Maintenance :: Imaging Windows 8 With UEFI / GPT / Secure Boot?
Mar 18, 2013
I'm having nothing but epic failures when I try to image a Windows 8 box with Secure Boot enabled, that was installed using UEFI and has GPT partitions.
I can install using standard MBR, and disable Secure Boot and UEFI in the BIOS and I can restore that no problem.
However, I have been playing with Aomei, Macrium, EaseUs, etc to handle my image restores and not having any luck at all. Basically it's this thread that explains my issues almost perfectly.
Home user: Need Win 8 Disk Imaging solution with UEFI-compatible Startup Disks
I want to install Windows 8, using UEFI with Secure Boot, install patches, software, etc, then run sysprep, shut down, image and then deploy the image on the same make/model down the road.
The only real success thus far has been to load Windows 8, and then run imagex to capture a new wim and then install using that WIM. But that's a whole install, I'd rather just lay an image back down.
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Mar 3, 2013
I have a paid for version of Acronis True Image Home 2010 that I have used for years with my Windows 7 box and it's been good.
I've also used Macrium Reflect Free, and today I tend to use AOMEI ddata backuper as it's free for personal and commercial use.
I have a new Dell laptop (with Windows 8), and thus far I have disabled the UEFI boot options and Secure Boot and use a classic setup. However, if I wanted to have a play with these other options to see what impact they would have on system performance, which of these drive imaging software packages would work?
I also have a desktop at work with all of these options (and that's likely where I will experiment). On that box, it's simple to drop in a test hard drive and whack away until I get it working. My laptop has an msata drive and I don't have any spares of these drives lying around.
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Dec 19, 2013
I got this 3F0 Error and i am 100% Sure that my HDD is in good shape. I formatted yesterday, I try to enable UEFi [Disables Legacy Boot] and the 3F0 Error Pops out.
If i switch back to Legacy Boot [Disables UEFI and Secure Boot] then the PC starts normally.
Pavillion HP 14 e019tx
8670M 2Gb Gddr3
3230m , Core i5
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Dec 20, 2013
I built a new PC running 8.1, GPT, UEFI secure boot mode, everything. I'm now at the point where I'm ready to start migrating my data to it, but before I do that, I need to get some backup software that offers me the option to boot from a recovery CD and restore from an image file backup stored elsewhere. Until I've wiped this install & restored successfully, I don't consider it a usable machine. I already have this setup working on my Win7, but for some reason that software is not working with 8.1.
So I'm looking around for something new, and I'm on a trial of Paragon Backup and Recovery Home 12. It says I can create a WinPE disk (and I must use this, since I'm using Intel firmware-based RAID) that will allow me to do a bare-metal restore. The takes me to a link on their website for something called the "Paragon Boot Media Builder." And there's documentation on it, but I can't find out how to download it. If I Google downloading that, a bunch of pirate websites show up & not much else.
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Oct 21, 2013
Windows 8.1 64 bit pc48 GB RamIntel i7 - 3960X CPUBoxxTech ComputerDrive C: SSD - 446 GB
When I first got my new personal computer in January, I created a System Image using Microsoft's utility. I typically use Acronis for my backups, but after major changes, I use both Microsoft and Acronis.
Now, I am attempting to complete a System Image Backup using Microsoft's utility so that I can fix my SecureBoot concern, knowing that I have a safety net in place. Unfortunately, I am unable to complete a backup. BoxxTech suggests that I use Microsoft's utility.
I begin with the File History in the Control Panel as shown below. Note, that I have plenty of room on my FreeAgent F Drive (standalone USB drive). Yet, Microsoft's utility believes otherwise.
Only the three items that shown to be selected are selected. In other words, there are no other drives or partitions off-screen that are selected.
Thinking that it might be a problem with my external USB hard drive, I look at using one of my internal drives, T.
I get the same error message as shown earlier.
why I am unable to back-up my personal computer using Windows 8.1?
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Jun 29, 2014
I posted a thread a couple days ago, which pertained to backup and restore of system images.
Windows 8.1/Windows 8 and backup software that works well with UEFI and GPT disks.
I just have another question which related to the last thread, then I think I will be able to sleep.
Can you system image a drive that has Win 8.1 (OEM) onto a new SSD, and not have your sheer will destroyed by the OS not being activated after the image has been applied to new SSD?
I would hope that once the image has been applied to the new drive, the magic within Win 8.1 would realise I am using the same motherboard, but it's just a different drive. Infact, I'm keeping the original 2TB drive in the exact same slot, but of course formatting it once I can get the SSD to boot. (I'm installing the SSD into my Acer's expansion SATA 3 bay on the front of the case - hot swappable technology or something)
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Nov 29, 2013
This brand new HP Pavilion Laptop had a UEFI Boot entry in the BIOS.
I used the HP Support Assistant to update the HP functions and programs, and it downloaded a new UEFI diagnostic which it installed as a partition on the drive - It was already there to begin with, but the new version removed the entry "UEFI Boot" from the Bios Boot Selections and now it just says "OS Boot Manager"
Therefore, when I try to use "Advanced Start" options from PC Settings, I no longer get the options to go into Safe Mode or the other recovery options, the system just reboots and F8 does absolutely nothing.
Other than setting my BCD to Legacy Mode, I cant get this into Safe Mode.
I burned the recovery disks which were 6 DVDs, will that put the original OS back in? I do have the free 8.1 update available, maybe the new UEFI only works for 8,1? I'm just trying to figure out how to put the UEFI Boot option back in, the original UEFI tool cannot be downloaded from HP.
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May 9, 2013
My system specs are :
FX-8350
ASUS M5A97 R2.0 (UEFI motherboard)
CM thunder 500W
Radeon hd 7870
8 gb ram [800 mhz]
seagate barracuda 7200.12 1TB
and
seagate barracuda 7200.11 250 gb
I have installed windows 8 on the 1 TB hdd 200GB partition
The problem I am facing is: UEFI Boot takes longer time
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Jan 2, 2014
I'm just been playing with free backup tools; Macrium Reflect and Aomei Backupper, and working out which works best for me for those times when you need to boot from a Recovery CD.
I've been using a Toshiba PC which has 64-bit Windows 8 preinstalled, and is using a GPT file system. I changed the boot order so that the CD/DVD drive comes before the main HDD, if it finds a valid bootable source.
The BIOS options on the PC also include:
* Secure Boot: enabled or disabled
* Boot mode: UEFI or Legacy (CSM)
I tried both Secure Boot enabled and disabled; this didn't seem to affect the findings below.
However the differences some on switching between UEFI mode and Legacy mode in the BIOS settings.
My question was whether I can boot from a Recovery CD in UEFI Mode; although the PC can access bootable CDs in Legacy Mode, it won't boot itself.
Aomei Backupper 1.6
CD was created using the Windows PE option rather than Linux. By changing to Legacy boot mode, I can boot from the Aomei CD, and it then could backup my HDD to an external USB drive. But I had to change back to UEFI boot to make the computer boot again.
Macrium Reflect Free v5.2.6444 - 32-bit.
This is similar to Aomei. I selected the option to create a CD using Windows PE (version 4). By changing to Legacy boot mode, I can boot from the Macrium CD, and it then could backup to an external USB drive. But I had to change back to UEFI boot to make the computer boot again.
Macrium Reflect Free v5.2.6444 - 64-bit.
This works! I selected the option to create a CD using Windows PE (version 4), 64-bit this time. This creates a CD which will boot in UEFI mode. I think this is because it uses the 64-bit version of Windows PE 4 rather than 32-bit.
So on this basis, I prefer Macrium Reflect Free, because it creates a CD which I can boot in UEFI mode without needing to get into the BIOS settings. It also works in Secure Boot mode.
Although this particular Toshiba seems to allow me to get into the BIOS without too much trouble by repeatedly hitting the F2 key on startup, I know not all PCs are so easy and some times when you need a recovery CD, the PC may not be functioning well enough to let you get into the BIOS easily.
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Feb 15, 2014
8.1 installed on SSD, Easeus backup doesn't see my HDD any more, so I can't make an image of it. It only sees the C drive and my external hard drive, but not the internal HDD (Hitachi 500 GB) that I use as a second drive for storing personal data. I tried with Macrium Reflect, and same problem.
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Oct 30, 2012
I did the Upgrade Assistant from Win7 pro to 8 pro and this is what I was told:
Secure Boot isn't compatible with your PC
Your PC's firmware doesn't support Secure Boot so you won't be able to use it in Windows 8.
More info, I really want Secure boot, however. I have a UEFI BIOS. I am willing to upgrade or clean install, as I will never use the previous windows 7 version again. Is there a way to get Secure boot with my computer [when I upgrade to 8]?
Secure boot requires firmware that supports UEFI v2.3.1 Errata B and has the Microsoft Windows Certification Authority in the UEFI signature database. How do I get this?
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Jun 22, 2014
I have a new laptop (HP G7-2292NR) with Windows 8 and today I turned on the laptop for the 3rd time and I see in the bottom right corner Windows 8.1 Secure boot isn't configured correctly build 9600, what does that mean? I am so new to Window 8 that I cannot find a thing, I need specific instructions. This is a huge change given I went from XP to Windows 8.
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Oct 7, 2013
I am running Windows 8 x64 without secure boot enabled. According to the screen shot
secure boot is "Unsupported" but my motherboard has secure boot features in it. Its just that I didn't have secure boot enabled when I installed Windows 8 so Windows is unable to use secure boot now. What are the steps for setting up my computer for installing windows in secure boot mode ?
Pc Specs-:
Motherboard: Gigabyte H77m-D3H (rev 1.1)GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1155 - GA-H77M-D3H (rev. 1.1)
BIOS ver: F11 (Latest)
Ram:8 Gb DDR3 Corsair
HardDisk-: 1) Western Digital 160 GB (boot) 2) Western Digital 1 TB.
I had mailed Gigabyte support on how to enable secure boot they told me the following-:
"We suggest you can first back up data, reset BIOS items we mentioned in first mail, format your HDD into GPT partition and then reinstall Genuine Windows 8 to test again."
So I am asking how can I format my HDD into a GPT ? Is there anything else I need to before I install Windows 8 again ?? What are the exact steps to follow.
Also, there are two things is there any app available via which I can backup my entire C drive including Program Files, all my installed apps, and all of my hotfixes and Windows updates ?? Because I don't want to reinstall everything again and again update my Windows 8.
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Feb 2, 2014
I want to disable secure boot so i can use my new gpu but I've heard that you must disable secure boot and enable legacy boot. If I do this, can i still boot Windows 8 or do you have to reinstall windows 8?
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Feb 8, 2013
I had a problem where I was running UEFI with secure boot disabled and dual booting with Linux Mint which is UEFI compliant. Mint had installed Grub, Mint's boot manager but I don't like Grub so i installed rEFInd. Unlike Grub rEFInd has support for UEFI and should have worked better as a boot manager. But it gave me problems too. So I had Grub and rEFInd both installed. I could boot to both Mint and Windows but the boot managers, both Grub or rEFInd, would not show at startup like they are supposed to.
I had to boot the PC, then hit Escape getting into my options menu built into the system, hit F9 to get a list of boot options where i could then choose to boot from hard drive, cd rom, usb etc. rEFInd was in this list. Only after choosing rEFInd from here, was I able to open rEFInd and choose Windows or Mint. This is way too many steps to boot into an OS, so i thought i'd try to use the system repair disk to repair my master boot record or the EFI data that the system uses at boot under UEFI. I forgot that i had to run some additional commands under command prompt and just ran automatic repair from Advanced instead.
At this time Windows had no trouble working at all with secure boot enabled if I really needed windows to use secure boot.
It said it found but could not fix the errors. Suddenly, Windows would not boot even with secure boot enabled. I reran the tool 3 times and it didn't work so i wiped the drive and reinstalled Windows from a clean state. I really did not have errors on the system to begin with accept that the system was trying to access my boot managers in an odd manner.. although i could get everything to work.
The automatic repair option should not have made things worse, even breaking my secure boot but it did.
My point of this is to show that the repair disk tools and how they play with the EFI boot tools is buggy and it can break your system even if there is nothing wrong with Windows and it's ability to boot under secure boot. Don't trust the Repair Disk tool folks. Don't trust UEFI. Don't trust Secure Boot. Be smart. Install a clean system under Legacy Bios mode with UEFI and secure boot disabled.
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Sep 15, 2014
I own an Asus laptop with pre-installed Windows 8.1 and, after downloading & installing recent Windows updates (20th of September 2014, if memory serves me correctly), I am unable to access desktop because system freezes at boot sequence returning me this error: "Secure Boot Violation. Invalid signature detected. Check Secure Boot Policy in Setup" printed inside a small red box.
After googling around, someone suggested to disable "Secure Boot" from BIOS and enable "Launch CSM". I performed such operations but I got no results (BIOS menu automatically appears after every reboot). Someone else suggested to change boot sequence and start system from a Recovery CD but I got no CD supplied with my laptop as Asus stopped providing CDs from very long time AFAIK.
I am quite sure problem relies on Windows Updates because I used this Laptop very little times and no p2p or hacked programs are installed. In addition to that, as far as I read, it seems other Win users experienced the same issue after installing WinUpdates but they have different BIOS so is not easy for me to understand my BIOS accordingly to what they do in their own BIOS in order to solve issue.
What annoys me most is that I bought this Laptop in July 2014 and, just three months later, it got freezes because of official Windows Updates and not because of bad behaviour of user.
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Feb 4, 2014
I'm finding that I am unable to disable secure boot. I can change the boot mode from UEFI to Legacy BIOS and that disables secure boot, but in Legacy mode I can't do what I'm trying to. I can't select the Secure Boot menu in the BIOS options--it's always greyed out. I've done some research and some sources said to hold shift while shutting down "to ensure you're really stopping Windows before trying to enter the BIOS" and hitting F2 on startup. I tried that but it made no difference. I've tried fiddling around with getting to the BIOS in other ways (forgotten how, now) and of course that made no difference.
I'm running Windows 8.1 on a Acer Aspire V-3551 that came with Windows 8 preinstalled.
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Dec 4, 2013
When I updated to 8.1 it gave me the Watermark in the bottom corner about SecureBoot not being configured correctly.
Now I don't know when it happened and I've only noticed in the last couple days that Watermark has gone ....
I don't know if any of the updates since have done it ....
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Mar 24, 2014
After creating a UEFI bootable USB thumb drive with Rufus (using Windows 8.1 Enterprise ISO x64), for a Dell Optiplex 3010 (configured as UEFI only, no CSM, latest firmware version, Windows 8 installed), I didn't see a USB boot option, so I tried to add one manually. Unfortunately I erased the existing boot option (boot manager) by mistake. Although there were two boot options for PXE booting, the machine will not start anymore, even when there is an active WDS server on the network.
I also see Led's 2 and 3 lighting up, meaning according to the manual 'hardware ok but bios possibly damaged/corrupt'.
I understand I cannot start the machine from a bios boot disk because of GPT partitioning, and the UEFI USB boot disk I made might be corrupt (as it didn't show up as a boot option), however I don't understand why it won't boot from the PXE network card, as these boot options are still there.
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Jul 30, 2014
I have a Windows 8.1 Update 1 ISO and would like to use it to perform a clean install on a system which supports UEFI Secure Boot but has no optical drive. What would be the best way to approach this?
WIMBoot would be nice to have as well, if there's a way to do it without making things too complicated.
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Oct 19, 2013
For those of us who have a PC capable of SecureBoot, but where we have chosen knowingly and intentionally to enable Legacy Boot, there has to be a way to get rid of the watermark. So, how to do it? Using the Group Policy editor to enable/disable "Use enhanced Boot Configuration Data validation profile" had no effect on my Samsung laptop.
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Nov 20, 2012
I have been playing around with the Secure Boot feature to see if I could tell what properties it might show. Currently, to enable the full Secure Boot feature, I have to use the on board graphics, since my Graphics card does not have a UEFI Op Rom.
So far, I know Windows 7 will not boot on my machine when the Windows 8 Secure Boot bios settings are enabled, which means disabling the CSM (Compatibility Support Module). When the Windows 8 Secure Boot is on and I try to Boot Windows 7, I am returned to the Bios with a notification that some settings have been reset for compatibility. Windows 7 boots fine after that.
Because many systems will have devices that will not meet the Windows 8 standards, like Graphic Cards, the secure boot may really only be fully available on new systems.
But the CSM seems to be a way to bridge the gap by ignoring certain non-UEFI Op Rom devices during boot. Msinfo32.exe shows Secure Boot ON with the module enabled and certain options being set. I am thinking that would stop Root Kits, but have not found anything to confirm that it would.
I suppose I need to go find a really bad Root Kit somewhere to test !!
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Aug 2, 2014
I had an image of my disk and I tried to boot it up from my VM workstation but it failed. I added in the line firmware = "efi". I used to be able to boot up without a problem in VM with my disk images before I changed to a new Win 8 laptop. So I was wondering does the secure boot somehow affects it?
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Jan 15, 2014
i have a Lenovo Ideapad Z585 running Windows 8, secure boot, gpt paritioning and UEFI bios.The laptop comes with a factory shipped 1TB Sata drive which i want to replace with a Kingston V300 SDD 120GB drive.
I have followed this guide How to Migrate OS to new Hard disk.Ive run this in another desktop, it completes and i shut down, remove the destination and insert it into the laptop - power up and it blue screens with There has been an unexpected error message. Trying to access the recovery partition says it is damaged but looks like its almost going to load. Looking at the drive in EaseUS paritition master the paritions look a perfect copy apart from the proportional sizing.
AHCI is enabled in bios - i've tried EaseUS Backup clone, task was successfull but again blue screens but this time with a attached device cant be found.
One thing i wasnt sure about, the PC i done the cloning in has a RAID stripe setup but not sure if this effects it.Any one had success in cloning a GPT drive over to a SSD?
I cant do a fresh installation of windows 8 as i dont have recovery discs, nor does the onekey recovery software allow me to do so and id like to keep the recovery parition in tact really.
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Jun 26, 2014
I have an acer laptop that came preloaded with windows 8 64bit. I am unable to turn on test mode. It says "Setting is protected by secure boot" or something similar.
An option in the boot settings (accessed by holding shift key while restarting) is there to turn off driver signing restrictions but it isn't working for me at all.
I did it on my desktop with windows 8.1 (not preloaded) in order to set my mouse USB port to a higher frequency with a non-digitally signed driver.
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Oct 11, 2013
I had a bit of a problem with Malware which led me to reinstall windows 8. I had also at the time been trying to install Linux to dual boot beside it. However, upon reinstalling I got the annoying watermark saying "Secureboot isn't configured correctly." Having decided I would rather remove the watermark and having gone back into the BIOS (with a reinstall) and trying to enable secure boot I get a message - "CSM is Loaded! Disable the CSM via Setup and repeat operation after Restart".
However there is, as far a I can see no option to disable the CSM in my bios - I've tried disabling anything related to Legacy and reinstalling both Ubuntu and Windows 8 as well as wiping the drive and jumping the CMOS as well as updating the BIOS.
I've tried every permutation in the BIOS. Could possibly be an incompatibility with graphics card, but wouldn't know where to start on that end if it is.
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Mar 30, 2014
1. Does secure boot need to be disabled to boot to the Macrium Reflect Free boot disk? I've got a friend I am working remotely and she has been unable to get the disk to boot in order to restore an image I made for her a while back. I assume secure boot is enabled on her Win 8 machine.
2. From what I've read, the pay version of Macrium Reflect seems able to allow you to open the application in Windows, set up the restore, and then it reboots automatically into the Macrium recovery environment. Would secure boot interfere with that operation?
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Feb 15, 2014
I can't seem to get Secure Boot enabled on my laptop, the secure boot option is greyed out and I can't change it to enabled, my computer came with windows 8 on it automatically so I thought it would've been enabled by default.
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Jul 29, 2014
I am having an issue with downgrading to Windows 7 and It's not nearly as easy as normally installing an OS. I get to the expanding files screen, and once the system reboots it goes back to the Windows 7 install screen. This is an issue, because it should continue with the installation.
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Oct 31, 2013
not sure if this has been posted but download this update from the Ms site if your watermark with this message doesn't disappear after you've activated your Windows 8.1 installation.
Download Update for Windows 8.1 for x64-based Systems (KB2902864) from Official Microsoft Download Center
I got the message after updating an HP sleekbook 4 laptop to Windows 8.1 enterprise (TechNet version from ISO) from the Windows 8 pro that was pre-installed with the laptop (plus all the other zillion bits of bloat /ad / crapware).-- I disabled protected boot -- more trouble than it's worth - especially if you are testing OS'es -- but KEPT the UEFI .
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Aug 21, 2013
First, some context: I have a Dell Inspiron 15R SE that came with Windows 8.
I've managed to get a working dual-boot system with Ubuntu 12.10. I can't remember exactly how I done that, but I remember that I had to disable secure boot. I think that the boot configuration those days was:
Secure boot: DisabledLoad legacy option rom: EnabledBoot list option: Legacy
This "configuration" worked perfectly for 6-7 months.
Then, one day (last week, can't remember the exact day), when I was using Windows 8 the computer crashed. I hard-rebooted and got this screen:
After executed boot-repair from a Ubuntu LiveCD dozens of times I've decided to eliminate Ubuntu temporarily and focus to get a system with Windows 8 working nice.
Then I used my recovery DVDs to recover the system. Yup, Windows has booted. But when I restarted first time I got the same error. Then I, digging a solution, pressed F12 after a reboot and got here:
The highlighted option allows me to boot into Windows 8. So I went to boot options (F2) and changed the following configuration:
Load legacy option rom: DisabledBoot list option: UEFI
Now I can boot directly to Windows without need to press F12.
But my objective isn't complete. I want to erase all Ubuntu entries from the seconds image and restore the legacy boot from the first imagem (because they worked before).
I did two things:
I erased all partitions related to Ubuntu (root partition and home partition).I created a Windows recovery disk (not a system recovery disk).
I used the recovery disk to run the automatic recovery procedure (I forgot the exactly name). I've runned it at least 10 times with no success. Then I went to command prompt to try the famous triad: bootrec /fixmbr, bootrec /fixboot and bootrec /rebuildbcd. Still, no solution.
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