I can't boot windows vista! Please help! "Windows failed to start" Status:0xc000014c

Discussion in 'Software' started by FalconFlurry, Oct 7, 2012.

  1. FalconFlurry

    FalconFlurry Private E-2

    I was deleting old videos off my computer and i noticed that none of the files were finished deleting after 10 minutes (none of them were large files) i had about 8 windows open that all said "recycling 1 file (xMb)" and none of them had even begun, in the details they all said 0Mb/s, 2 of them i cancelled and after the ten minutes they were still canceling so i decided to restart my computer. When it started up again it came up with the following message:

    Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem:

    1. Insert your windows installation disc and restart your computer.
    2. Choose your language settings, and then click "next."
    3. Click "Repair your Computer."

    If you do not have this disc, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance.

    File: \Boot\BCD

    Status: 0xc000014c

    Info: An error occurred while attempting to read the boot configuration data.


    So i followed the instructions and after i press "repair and restart" it says "failed to save startup options." "OK"

    When i pressed ok the window closed and behind it there was the "System Recovery Options" window where it said: "Select an operating system to repair and click Next. Note: this feature cannot repair operating systems earlier than windows vista." Then there is a box that says "operating system", "partition size", and "location" where it should show that vista is installed, but it shows nothing. I even used command prompt to search for operating systems on my hard drive. It showed vista on C:\

    Under the box it said: "If you do not see your operating system listed, click Load Drivers to load drivers for your hard disks." So i pressed Load Drivers and it said "Insert the installation media for the device and click OK to select the driver." So i had to go to Acer.com on another computer and save the SATA (i think it was called that) driver on to a flash drive i did that and put the flash drive in my computer and selected the ahcix86s file. It came up with a list of devices, most of them were "AMD AHCI Compatible RAID Controller" so i pressed "Add Drivers…" after loading for a while it said "The installation has failed" and that's as far as i have been able to get.
    I don't know what anyone can make of this but I would appreciate any help i can get. I just want my computer to work again ASAP because i was right in the middle of a project that i need to finish very soon.
     
  2. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    Re: I can't boot windows vista! Please help! "Windows failed to start" Status:0xc0000

    This
    says it all.
    Your error is not exactly the same
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927391
    but it boils down to the Boot Configuration Data is corrupt so it has to be repaired.

    You might want to see if Methods 2 or 3 work. If not, perhaps another Geek will come along and suggest what to do. I have never run Vista so I can't supply you with advice on how to fix/rebuild the BCD file.
     
  3. FalconFlurry

    FalconFlurry Private E-2

    Re: I can't boot windows vista! Please help! "Windows failed to start" Status:0xc0000

    I followed that link and i got up to step 8 in method 3. When i typed in "bcdedit/enum all" it said:
    "The boot configuration data store could not be opened.
    The system has attempted to load or restore a file into the registry, but the specified file is not in a registry file format."

    Can you enlighten me on what this means/what to do?
     
  4. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Re: I can't boot windows vista! Please help! "Windows failed to start" Status:0xc0000

    Hi,

    I'm not sure of the meaning of that last error. I have found that startup repair is pretty good but sometimes has to be run a few times. You may have already tried this but when you start and it searches for an installation and finds none and are taken to the Load Drivers window, try hitting the Next button instead of loading drivers. From the list of 5 options, try Startup Repair. Then restart and see if this time it shows your Vista installation and will try to repair it.

    Can you verify that you have a Vista disc that allows you to get to the recovery options separately from just booting up your computer. We could try to manually fix the BCD or run a chkdsk but I want to make sure you will still have access to the recovery options independent of the HD.
     
  5. FalconFlurry

    FalconFlurry Private E-2

    Re: I can't boot windows vista! Please help! "Windows failed to start" Status:0xc0000

    Ok. I tried hitting next and clicking startup repair. It said "Windows Cannot repair this computer automatically" so I hit details and it showed these operations completed successfully:
    Check for updates
    System disk test
    Disk failure diagnosis
    Disk metadata test
    Target os test

    Then it said:
    Root cause found:
    ---------------------
    No OS files found on disk.

    Repair action: Partition table repair
    Result: failed. Error code = 0xb7
    Time taken = 3136ms

    So i think it believes there is no operating system on my hard drive, but i know there is; when i went to search for the drivers it showed everything there under C:\
    I took my hard drive out of my computer and it successfully booted to the install windows program, so yes i still have access to the recovery options independant of my hd. i would like to try to fix the bcd or run a chkdsk. I think i aready tried fixing the bcd already and it said it can't install it because there is already one existing. Would it perhaps be easier to solve my problems if i took out my hard drive and plugged it in to another computer via usb? That way i could manually access the files (i could probably replace the bcd manually). If this doesn't work i am open to re-installing windows as long as there is a way to save my files and everything. I don't really have anywhere to back up 200Gb of data and i don't think i could partition my hdd without deleting what is on it now.
     
  6. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Re: I can't boot windows vista! Please help! "Windows failed to start" Status:0xc0000

    If there is a partition table problem that would explain why it can't read your BCD so I am not sure the BCD is the problem. You can only write a BCD with the HD in the original computer (as far as I know).

    Taking a look at the partition table would probably be easier in another computer with the HD attached by USB. I think we should start there to see what the drive looks like under another Windows system if it is an easy attachment for you to make.

    Which OS is the other computer?
     
  7. FalconFlurry

    FalconFlurry Private E-2

    Re: I can't boot windows vista! Please help! "Windows failed to start" Status:0xc0000

    The other computer is vista. What do you want me to do once it is plugged in?
     
  8. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Re: I can't boot windows vista! Please help! "Windows failed to start" Status:0xc0000

    I would check disk management and see what it tells you about the disk # that corresponds to the drive in the external. Just go to Start and type disk management in the Search box and hit enter. It should open the disk management window and the graphs at the bottom will show the disks and their partitions. I just want to know what it says about the external.

    It should have one or more partitions with one being the large Vista partition. Are all partitions on the disk showing as Healthy and NTFS file system. What are their sizes?

    Then just check Computer and click on the drive letter for that external HD's Vista partition and see if it opens normally and you can view the files.

    ***
    I'm not sure of the best thing to try next. I'm thinking to try a chkdsk on that large Vista partition and also to use testdisk to look at the partition table to see what it says about the partitions. Like you said it is odd that the startup repair says there is a partititon table problem yet you were able to see the Vista partition's contents.

    You can download testdisk here. Get ver. 6.13

    Let me know what disk management says and whether you can browse the partition in Computer.
     
  9. FalconFlurry

    FalconFlurry Private E-2

    Re: I can't boot windows vista! Please help! "Windows failed to start" Status:0xc0000

    I plugged my hard drive into the other computer and it said it detected problems with the hard drive and it asked me if i would like to diagnose and repair. I said yes and it loaded for a few minutes and finally said it can't do it while the disk is in use. It gave me the option of scheduling chkdsk for the next restart, so i did that and it spent about three hours correcting data on my hard drive. When it finished I put my hard drive back in my computer and it worked! The only thing is it deactivated my windows vista license and removed my desktop wallpaper (so it was just black). I worked a little magic and acquired a new license and put my wallpaper back -no issues there. So my computer is up and running again! so happy!!!!

    Thank you so much everyone here who took time out of their life to help me!!
     
  10. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Re: I can't boot windows vista! Please help! "Windows failed to start" Status:0xc0000

    That is great!

    Can I ask if you connected the drive internally or by USB? It sounds like you connected it internally and booted directly from the drive then Windows did a repair. I'm curious for my own information.
     
  11. FalconFlurry

    FalconFlurry Private E-2

    Re: I can't boot windows vista! Please help! "Windows failed to start" Status:0xc0000

    Hi, sorry I took so long for me to respond, I intended to sooner but it kept slipping my mind. To answer your question I connected it via USB. Since the computer I connected it to was a laptop It was not possible for me to have two internal hard drives in at once. I put my old hard drive (the one that was working properly) into my computer, booted that and connected the corrupted one by USB. I was kind of surprised that the computer could detect and fix a corrupted OS problem through USB, but I am really happy it did.
     

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