I accidentally changed some FC 25 files and the game stopped working, so I tried restoring my Windows system to a point from the previous day. During the recovery process, the computer showed CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED (0xEF), followed by a black screen asking me to restart. After rebooting, I began getting error 0xc0000098, and the screen says that Windows cannot load winload.efi from WindowsSystem32. Pressing Enter only restarts the computer, and choosing the recovery option with F1 also causes another restart. F8 opens the startup settings menu, while Esc still opens the BIOS normally. Is there a way to repair the boot files without reinstalling Windows?
2 Answers
The safest next step is to boot from a Windows installation or recovery USB and select Repair your computer instead of Install now. Use Startup Repair, and if necessary open Command Prompt to inspect the Windows partition and rebuild the BCD with the boot-repair tools. The drive letter in recovery mode may not be C:, so confirm which partition contains the Windows folder before running commands. If repair cannot restore the boot files, back up important data from the USB environment before considering a Windows reset or clean installation.
Error 0xc0000098 usually means the Boot Configuration Data, or BCD, is missing or corrupted. Since you can still open the BIOS, the hardware is at least being detected. Try reaching the Windows Recovery Environment by interrupting startup three times in a row: power on the PC, and as soon as Windows begins loading, hold the power button to shut it down. Repeat this twice, then let it start normally on the third attempt. From the recovery menu, choose Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Repair first. If that fails, open Command Prompt and rebuild the boot files. Windows may be repairable without a reinstall, but avoid randomly deleting files or changing BIOS settings.
I tried restarting several times, but I probably was not interrupting the startup at the right moment. I was hoping this could be fixed without reinstalling Windows. I will try the recovery USB and Startup Repair first.