Windows Error 0xc0000225: An Unexpected Error Has Occurred / Boot Selection Failed

Error 0xc0000225 appears on the blue or black recovery screen when Windows cannot find or load a valid boot entry, so the PC never reaches the sign-in screen. In most cases the boot configuration data is damaged or points at the wrong place, and it can be rebuilt from a recovery USB with bootrec and bcdboot. The files in your Windows folder are usually still intact.

Decoding the screen

You will usually see a recovery screen with the title "Recovery" and a message such as "An unexpected error has occurred" or "The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible", with the code 0xc0000225 near the bottom. The wording varies by firmware and build. Pressing a key often offers to open the firmware settings or the recovery tools.

Windows starts by reading the Boot Configuration Data store, called BCD, which lives on a small system partition. The BCD tells the boot manager which Windows installation to load and on which partition it sits. Error 0xc0000225 means that lookup came back empty or invalid. Either the store is missing or damaged, the system partition cannot be read, or the firmware is trying to boot from a disk layout that does not match what is installed.

What tends to trigger it

• A power cut or forced shutdown during a Windows feature update or reset.
• Cloning an old drive to a new SSD and booting before the firmware mode matches the partition style.
• Installing Linux or a second Windows, then removing it, which leaves the boot manager pointing at a vanished entry.
• Changing BIOS options, resetting the firmware to defaults, or updating the BIOS.
• Swapping a motherboard, or moving a drive from one PC to another.
• A failing drive that can no longer be read reliably.
• Disk tools that resize or convert partitions between MBR and GPT.

What is probably going on: a quick table

Likely cause	What you will notice	Where to look
Corrupted or missing BCD store	Error after an update or crash, drive is visible in recovery	Startup Repair, then bootrec
EFI system partition lost its boot files	Drive is GPT, a small FAT32 partition shows up in diskpart	bcdboot step
Firmware set to the wrong mode	Appeared right after a BIOS reset or update	UEFI versus legacy section
Wrong boot order or first device is a USB or network	Error changes when you unplug USB devices	Boot order section
Secure Boot refusing the loader	Appears after a firmware update or key reset	Secure Boot section
Dying drive or loose cable	Disk not listed, or listed with the wrong size	Hardware check

Before touching commands: simple checks

Remove every USB stick, SD card and external drive. If the firmware tries to boot from a device that has no loader, you can get this exact message. Then turn the PC fully off, wait a few seconds and start it again. If it is a desktop, reseat the drive data cable. If it is a laptop that was moved or dropped, think about the drive connection.

Enter the firmware setup (usually Del, F2 or F10, depending on the maker) and check that the internal drive is listed. If it is not, no software step will help, and you are dealing with the drive, its cable or the controller mode.

Make a recovery USB

You need a working Windows PC and a USB stick of at least 8 GB. Download the official Windows installation media tool from Microsoft, choose to create installation media for another PC, and select the same edition and architecture as the broken machine. When it finishes, plug the stick into the broken PC and boot from it by tapping the one-time boot menu key at power-on.

At the first setup screen choose your language and then Repair your computer, not Install now. Go to Troubleshoot and Advanced options. That menu gives you Startup Repair, Command Prompt and System Restore, which is everything the next section needs.

Repair steps, from least to most invasive

Step 1: Startup Repair

In the recovery environment choose Startup Repair and pick your Windows installation. It can take several minutes, and it may restart the PC once or twice. If it reports that it could not repair the PC, do not repeat it endlessly. Move to the manual steps.

Step 2: Check what the disk looks like

Open Command Prompt from Advanced options and look at the disks and partitions.

diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
list partition
list volume
exit

Note two things. First, whether the disk is marked with an asterisk under the GPT column, which means a UEFI-style disk, or not, which means MBR. Second, the letter of the volume that contains your Windows folder. Inside the recovery environment the letters are often shifted, so the Windows drive may be D: rather than C:. Check with:

dir D:\

Try other letters until you see the Windows, Users and Program Files folders.

Step 3: Use bootrec

Run these in order. They rewrite the boot sector and rescan for installations:

bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /scanos
bootrec /rebuildbcd

On a legacy BIOS/MBR disk only, you can also run bootrec /fixmbr first. Skip it on a UEFI/GPT disk, where it is not needed. If you are comparing with another boot error, the guide for error 0xc000000e (boot device not found) covers the case where the drive itself is missing.

If bootrec /rebuildbcd says "Total identified Windows installations: 1", answer Y to add it to the boot list. If it finds zero, the store may be missing or the disk layout is unusual, and the next step is the more reliable one. On some systems bootrec /fixboot returns "Access is denied". That is common on UEFI disks, and it is one reason people move on to bcdboot.

Step 4: Recreate the boot files with bcdboot

bcdboot copies fresh boot files from your Windows folder and builds a new store. You need to know which partition holds the boot files. On a UEFI (GPT) disk that is the small FAT32 EFI partition. On an MBR disk it is the system reserved partition or the Windows partition itself.

The diskpart commands below only assign a letter and do not erase anything. Never type clean or format here.

For a UEFI disk, assign a letter to the EFI partition first. Replace the partition number with the one that shows about 100 to 500 MB, type System, in list partition:

diskpart
select disk 0
select partition 1
assign letter=S
exit
bcdboot D:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI

If the firmware does not list Windows Boot Manager after the restart, open the firmware setup and choose the disk's UEFI entry manually.

For an MBR disk with legacy boot, use the matching firmware flag:

bcdboot D:\Windows /s C: /f BIOS

Here C: stands for the active partition that holds the boot files in your layout. In recovery that partition often does not have the letter C:. To confirm it, run list volume in diskpart, select the candidate (the small System Reserved volume, or the one with System in the Info column) and run detail partition, which shows whether it is Active. If you are unsure, do not guess: an incorrect letter on a working second Windows installation can overwrite its boot data. Get advice before you run it.

When the command reports that boot files were created successfully, close the prompt, remove the USB and restart.

UEFI versus legacy: the quiet culprit

A GPT disk needs the firmware in UEFI mode. An MBR disk needs legacy or CSM mode. If a BIOS update or reset flipped that setting, you can see 0xc0000225 on a perfectly healthy installation. Open the firmware setup and compare. If the PC always ran Windows 11, it was almost certainly UEFI with GPT. If it is an older Windows 10 machine, it may be either. Switch the mode, save, and test. If you cannot tell, test one mode, and if it fails, put it back and try the other, noting the original setting first.

Do not convert the disk type to match the firmware unless you have a full backup and a clear plan. Conversion tools exist, but they are a different job from fixing this error.

Secure Boot and boot order

If the error began right after a firmware update, check Secure Boot. Some firmware updates reset the key database, and the loader is then rejected. Setting Secure Boot to its default or standard keys, or turning it off temporarily to test, will show whether it is the cause. Turn it back on after the repair if the PC supports Windows 11. Microsoft says that devices that have not yet received the newer Secure Boot certificates still start normally, so an expiring certificate is not by itself a reason for this error. On the boot order screen, make sure Windows Boot Manager is first. Entries for a removed second OS, a network boot or an empty USB slot can sit at the top and produce the same message.

System Restore and the last resorts

If boot repair does not take, try System Restore from Advanced options, which can roll back a failed update. If you have no restore point, the next options are Reset this PC with the keep my files choice, or a clean install. Both change the system, so copy your data first, and confirm you have your BitLocker recovery key if the drive is encrypted. From the recovery Command Prompt you can open Notepad, use its Open dialog to browse folders, and copy files to a USB drive.

If the failed event was a feature update, our Windows Update troubleshooting guide and the page on error 0x800f0845 may help once the PC is back.

Mistakes that make this error worse

• Running bcdboot against the wrong drive letter. Always confirm the Windows folder location with dir first.
• Formatting the EFI or system partition to "start fresh". You can recreate it, but only if you know the steps.
• Converting MBR to GPT or back without a backup, just to see if it helps.
• Clearing the TPM or resetting firmware keys without checking whether BitLocker is on. A BitLocker drive can ask for a recovery key afterwards, so find that key before changing firmware settings.
• Repeated hard power-offs while the recovery screen is thinking.
• Running chkdsk /r on a drive that may be failing before you have copied your files.

Signs you need a technician

• The internal drive is not shown in the firmware or in diskpart.
• The disk shows a strange size, such as a few MB, or appears as RAW or unallocated.
• There is more than one Windows installation and you are unsure which boot files belong to which.
• BitLocker or device encryption is on and you do not have the key.
• The PC has important data and no backup.
• Startup Repair, bootrec and bcdboot all fail, or the PC returns to the same screen after each one.

Boot problems are tricky to do remotely when the PC cannot reach Windows, so a technician may first have you start from a recovery environment or help you recover the data, then finish the repair after the PC runs again. You can read how it works on our remote repair page and the Windows support page. For a related crash pattern, see Critical Process Died.

Keeping the boot path healthy

• Leave the PC on power until a feature update or reset finishes, and plug in laptops.
• Keep a recovery USB in a drawer, built for the same edition of Windows.
• Write down your firmware mode and Secure Boot state before you update the BIOS.
• Store BitLocker recovery keys in your Microsoft account or another safe place.
• After cloning to a new SSD, test boot before wiping the old one.
• Remove old dual-boot entries cleanly instead of deleting partitions.
• Keep regular file backups, so a boot failure costs you time and not data.

FAQ

Does error 0xc0000225 mean my files are gone?

No. It means Windows cannot find a valid boot entry. Your files are normally still on the drive, but make a backup before drastic steps.

Can I fix it without a USB stick?

Sometimes the PC offers recovery options after two failed starts. If it does not, you need installation media, which you can create on any other Windows PC.

Why does bootrec /fixboot say access is denied?

This is common on UEFI systems. Use bcdboot with the EFI partition mounted instead, as described above.

Can a BIOS update cause this?

Yes. A firmware reset can change UEFI or legacy mode, Secure Boot state or boot order, and any of these can make the loader unreachable.

Is my SSD failing if I see this error?

Not necessarily. But if the drive is missing from the firmware or disappears at random, a hardware fault becomes the leading suspect.

Will a reset delete my data?

The keep my files option tries to keep personal data, but it is not a backup. Copy anything important first if you can reach it.

Do I need to turn off Secure Boot permanently?

No. Turn it off only as a test. Windows 11 expects it on, so restore it after the boot repair if the firmware allows.

Can you repair it remotely?

If the PC can reach a recovery environment with network access, parts of it can be guided remotely. A PC that will not power up the disk needs hands-on work.