Linux – BOOTREC /FIXBOOT => Element not found

bootkali-linuxlinuxwindowswindows 10

So the other day, there is a post about this here but there have been some developments, I installed Linux Kali to dual boot and messed up the booting of my PC.

After messing around with the boot files I finally got it to boot the Windows 10 partition using this code

menuentry 'Windows 10' {
  set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
  chainloader +1
}

But it failed and I got a message similar to this.

File: \Boot\BCD

Status: 0xc0000034

Info: The Windows Boot Configuration Data file is missing required information

Yes that is the one for Windows 7, I couldn't find the Windows 10 version. I believe the error code and extra information was different.

To fix the problem I followed these steps found here and here (the BurrWalnut answer)

  1. Put the Windows installation disc in the disc drive, and then start the computer.
  2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD …". appears.
  3. Select a language, a time, a currency, and a keyboard or another input method, and then click Next.
  4. Click Repair your computer.
  5. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.
  6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
  7. Type BOOTREC /FIXMBR, and then press ENTER.
  8. Type BOOTREC /FIXBOOT, and then press ENTER.
  9. Type BOOTREC /REBUILDBCD, and then press ENTER.

The problem is when I enter the command BOOTREC /FIXBOOT the output is Element not found and when I enter the command BOOTREC /REBUILDBCD it scans for operating systems, finds windows, asks if I want to add a boot for it, I enter Y and then it gives the output Element not found.

I would really appreciate any help in fixing the problem

Best Answer

For anybody else that experiences the same problem (completely shot my windows boot partition while installing Linux) and stumbles across this question, I suggest giving the troubleshooting steps from Dell a try. Instructions are for UEFI and GPT only I think.

The command that finally fixed my problem was:

bcdboot c:\Windows /s <boot letter>: /f ALL

For different systems, different variations of the command parameters might be appropriate.

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