Solved Getting a winload.efi error (0xc0000225) after deleting the partition where Windows 11 was installed

forkleaf · Sunday at 8:15 AM

I dual-booted Windows 11 and 10 and I used this guide Why Not Both? How to Dual Boot Windows 10 and Windows 11. After trying out 11 for a few days, I decided to stay on 10. As per the article, I got rid of the other OS by deleting the partition where it was installed. I used a partitioning tool on Hirens Boot. It's what I used too when I made a partition where I would install 11.

I also have a GNU Grub installed which got installed when I tried out Ubuntu. Both Grub and Ubuntu are still installed to my drive. So whenever I turn on my computer, Grub shows up first. It lets me decide whether to boot up from Windows Boot Manager or Ubuntu.

I get the 0xc0000225 error after selecting Windows Boot Manager. Fortunately, that blue screen lets you enter a different operating system (Windows 10 in my case), so I can use my computer normally. The only issue is the 0xc0000225 error that I get whenever I boot up. How do I fix this correctly given my situation?

jimbo45 · Sunday at 8:29 AM

forkleaf said:
I dual-booted Windows 11 and 10 and I used this guide Why Not Both? How to Dual Boot Windows 10 and Windows 11. After trying out 11 for a few days, I decided to stay on 10. As per the article, I got rid of the other OS by deleting the partition where it was installed. I used a partitioning tool on Hirens Boot. It's what I used too when I made a partition where I would install 11.

I also have a GNU Grub installed which got installed when I tried out Ubuntu. Both Grub and Ubuntu are still installed to my drive. So whenever I turn on my computer, Grub shows up first. It lets me decide whether to boot up from Windows Boot Manager or Ubuntu.

I get the 0xc0000225 error after selecting Windows Boot Manager. Fortunately, that blue screen lets you enter a different operating system (Windows 10 in my case), so I can use my computer normally. The only issue is the 0xc0000225 error that I get whenever I boot up. How do I fix this correctly given my situation?

Hi there
the best solution is to re-install the bootloader to the efi partition.
boot an install device -- choose repair system--command mode
then with diskpart select the efi partition and assign it say "Letter=S" and the Windows partition say "Letter=W"
exit diskpart

now cd to w:\windows\system32

w:

bcdboot w:\windows /s S: /f UEFI

reboot -- should be fine.
Cheers
jimbo

FreeBooter · Sunday at 8:30 AM

In this video, i will guide on how to Fix Winload.efi is Missing or Contains Errors Message.

forkleaf · Sunday at 9:29 AM

jimbo45 said:
Hi there
the best solution is to re-install the bootloader to the efi partition.
boot an install device -- choose repair system--command mode
then with diskpart select the efi partition and assign it say "Letter=S" and the Windows partition say "Letter=W"
exit diskpart

now cd to w:\windows\system32

w:

bcdboot w:\windows /s S: /f UEFI

reboot -- should be fine.
Cheers
jimbo

Should the install device be on Windows 10 or 11?

forkleaf · Sunday at 9:35 AM

jimbo45 said:
Hi there
the best solution is to re-install the bootloader to the efi partition.
boot an install device -- choose repair system--command mode
then with diskpart select the efi partition and assign it say "Letter=S" and the Windows partition say "Letter=W"
exit diskpart

now cd to w:\windows\system32

w:

bcdboot w:\windows /s S: /f UEFI

reboot -- should be fine.
Cheers
jimbo

Oh I forgot to mention on my post that the Windows Boot Manager still displays Windows 11 as an option.

So the boot up looks like this:
1) GNU Grub shows up
2) I select Windows Boot Manager
3) 0xc0000225 error
4) I select "enter a different operating system"
5) GNU Grub shows up again
6) The "choose an operating system" menu shows up and it displays Window 11 and Windows 10
7) And of course, I go to Windows 10.

Why does the boot manager still recognize 11?

forkleaf · Sunday at 10:40 AM

ChatGPT came in clutch and gave me a solution that didn't involve using a boot device. It suggested me to delete the entry for Window 11 in BCD. I used EasyBCD since I'm not comfortable with messing with these stuff with just the command prompt. I opened the app, deleted the Windows 11 entry, restarted the computer, and the error is now gone!

I hope this helps other people in the future.