Windows 10 Boot Loader

Dual Boot Linux with Windows 10 – Windows Installed First. For many users, Windows 10 installed first will be the likely configuration. In fact, this is the ideal way to dual boot Windows and Linux.

Read about restoring Windows 10 bootloader from a working or faulty system with the command prompt. Recovering bootloader after installation of Linux, Ubuntu, Windows Often the reason for the operating system to fail when loading is the damaged bootloader Windows 10. Recovering system files with the System Restore function doesn’t help to bring the bootloader back to life. Then how can it be recovered?

The operating system Windows 10 won’t load – what should I do?

Recover the data lost because of the damaged bootloader.
Recover Windows 10 bootloader from the command prompt.
Bootloader recovery software Windows 10.

Recover The Data Lost Because of The Damaged Bootloader

Recovering Windows bootloader, damaged or overwritten system files, file system errors or HDD bad sectors are onluy some of the things to cause loss of data.

Restoring Windows boot sector can make the operating system work again but it can result in loss of user files. It is not always possible to restore Windows operability without a clean installation of the operating system which can also cause loss of files.

Download for free and scan your computer with Hetman Partition Recovery. Learn about the program functions and step-by-step guide.

Recover Windows 10 Bootloader From The Command Prompt

If damaged, Windows bootloader can be recovered with the use of command prompt.

If the system won’t load, launch the diagnostic utility from the boot disk:

Start the computer using the boot disk.
In the menu that appears, go to System Restore / Troubleshooting / Advanced Options / Command Prompt.

If you can load Windows, do the following:

Press Windows + R.
Type cmd in the window that appeared and press Enter.

Use the command bootrec.exe to recover the bootloader:

Type in the command prompt: bootrec.exe /fixboot
Restart the computer.

Bootloader Recovery Software Windows 10

If you don’t have an authentic Windows boot disk at hand, you can load the computer, including for the purpose of recovering the bootloader, with the help of a boot selection disk such as LiveCD. As a rule, such disks feature several programs for bootloader recovery Windows 10. Such programs can be launched right from LiveCD – they are portable and do not require an operating system to start from the computer’s hard disk.

For this purpose, do the following:

Find a LiveCD image which is good enough for your needs, and record it onto a CDDVD or a flash drive.
Connect the LiveCD to your computer and turn it on. The computer will automatically boot from LiveCD (the boot sequence should be changed in BIOS or UEFI so that CD or USB comes first).
Run the bootloader recovery software from your LiveCD:
- EasyBCD;
- MultiBoot;
- FixBootFull.
Follow the program’s directions.
Wait until the recovery process is complete.
Restart the computer without using LiveCD.

Recovering Windows 10 Bootloader After Installation of Linux, Ubuntu

Sometimes the main operating system Windows 10 won’t boot if Ubuntu Linux is instaled as the second operating system. It is connected with the probable overwriting of Windows boot sector.

This is what you should do to recover Windows loader and still have the opportunity to load Ubuntu Linux:

Save Ubuntu Linix boot sector. To do it, start the terminal and enter:
dd if=/dev/sda3 of=/linux.boot bs=512 count=1.
As a result of this command, the boot record will be copied to the user directory which the PC is using. Go to the user folder and copy this file into the partition where Windows is installed.
Start the computer using Windows boot disk.
In the menu that appears, go to System Restore / Troubleshooting / Advanced Options / Command Prompt.
Type in the command prompt:
bootrec.exe /FixMbr
bootrec.exe /FixBoot

As a result of, Windows bootloader will be restored, but there is high risk of damaging Ubuntu Linux loader. To restore its operability do the following:

Restart Windows, open a console window with administrator rights and enter:
bcdedit /create /d “Linux” /application BOOTSECTOR
Copy the disk ID which will be shown as {ID} after this command.
Here is an example of disk ID: {с3454a4v-9652-fg78-94re-d8d2d3lh5a23}
Enter the following command using the copied ID:
bcdedit /set {с3454a4v-9652-fg78-94re-d8d2d3lh5a23} device partition=c:
partition=c: indicates the partition where Windows is installed.
Now use the file you have saved previously and the disk ID:
bcdedit /set {с3454a4v-9652-fg78-94re-d8d2d3lh5a23} path linux.boot
bcdedit /displayorder {с3454a4v-9652-fg78-94re-d8d2d3lh5a23} /addlast
bcdedit /timeout 10

After you have done it, your computer can boot with either Windows or Ubuntu Linux.

Is the Windows 10 bootloader recovered now? Leave your feedback and ask questions in your comments.