Free: Workable Boot BCD Error Windows 7 Fix Without CD

Scenario

“I have Windows 7 on my Acer computer. It worked well yesterday. But now, when I turn on my computer, it fails and is stuck on a blue screen with an error code: 0xc0000098. It said, “Your PC needs to be repaired, and the Boot Configuration Data file doesn’t contain valid information for an operating system.” It prompts that I need to use the recovery tools, but I don’t have any installation media. Is there any available Boot BCD error Windows 7 fix without CD?”

What is Boot BCD in Windows 7/8/10?

BCD (Boot Configuration Data) is a firmware-independent database for boot-time configuration data. It is required by the new Windows Boot Manager and replaces the boot.ini used by NTLDR. It contains the menu entries presented by the Windows Boot Manager.

Generally, BCD is saved in data files. On the UEFI boot computer, the file is located at “/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/BCD” on the EFI system partition. On BIOS boot computer, it is located at “/boot/BCD” on the active partition.

What causes Boot BCD error?

Boot Configuration Data is quite important for loading and running the operating system successfully. Therefore, when it gets corrupted or lacks crucial information, then your computer cannot access the necessary files of the Windows operating system on the hard disk during boot. Finally, OS could not be loaded along with various Boot BCD error codes like 0xc00000f, 0xc0000034, and 0xc0000098 (in the Scenario). So what actually causes this error?

▸One of the most common causes is that BCD has no OS entries, which can result from sudden power failure, boot sector virus infection, disk write errors during configuring the BCD manually.

▸ Another main cause is an incompatible device driver installed on the current hard drive, which always happens after you update your Windows system.

How to fix Boot BCD error without CD in Windows 7/8/10?

To repair BCD boot errors without using a Windows installation disc, you can use AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. It is a free but powerful disk manager, with which you can create bootable media on another working computer, and then easily repair damaged BCD/MBR in WinPE mode. So, the Windows setup CD is not required.

The next content is about Boot BCD error Windows 7 fix without CD via AOMEI Partition Assistant.

Step 1. Insert an empty USB into a working Windows computer. Free download, install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant on the computer.

Step 2. Click “Tools” in the top toolbar, and choose “Make Bootable Media”. Then follow the wizard to make a bootable USB drive. (Note: the bootable USB contains the installed AOMEI Partition Assistant.)

Step 3. Plug the bootable USB to your computer on which Windows fails to boot and start it. Get into BIOS to change the boot priority. When loaded, you’ll see AOMEI Partition Assistant running.

Step 4. In the main console of AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard, right-click the disk with damaged MBR and choose “Rebuild MBR”.

Step 5. Select the type of MBR for your current Windows operating system, click “OK” to continue.

Step 6. Click “Apply” and “Proceed” to commit the operations.

After it is accomplished, restart your computer to check whether this Boot BCD error is fixed or not.

Tip: Besides rebuilding MBR, you can also use AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard to check bad sectors on the system partition and fix them, or check the entire hard drive for errors via “Surface Test”.

Further reading: how to manually rebuild BCD?

To fix the Boot BCD error in Windows, if you have Windows installation CD or DVD, you can take the following steps to manually rebuild BCD:

1. Insert the installation disc and boot the computer from it.

2. At the install screen, click “Repair your computer”.

3. At the “System Recovery Options” screen, select the “Command Prompt” option.

4. A command prompt window will now open. Then execute the below commands.

• bootrec.exe /fixmbr

• bootrec.exe /fixboot

• bootrec.exe /scanos

• bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd

Final Words

AOMEI Partition Assistant offers an effective Boot BCD error fix without CD for Windows 7/8/10. To avoid such annoying situations in the future, you can clone Windows to an external hard drive for a backup.

If you want to experience more advanced functions such as extending system partition without reboot, converting system disk between MBR and GPT partition styles, recovering lost partitions, etc, please upgrade to Professional edition. To deal with Server boot issues caused by damaged MBR or BCD, you can try AOMEI Partition Assistant Server.