[SOLVED] New build boots to Windows Recovery Environment every time ?

[willyburns]

Windows 11 fully updated and installed on a clean, formatted Samsung 970 M.2 NVMe. On cold boot it will always boot into the Windows Recovery Environment, and then when I've rebooted into the UEFI and restarted that way it boots fine. Continues to stay solid no matter the task after this . . .

Specs:

GIGABYTE Aorus Z790 Prox X

14900K overclocked using the "Optomisation" preset with "CPU Upgrade" set to "Default"

COSAIR DOMINATOR TITANIUM RGB DDR5 RAM 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 7000MHz CL34 (CMP32GX5M2X7000C34W) using XMP 1 7000 34-42-42-96-1.450V

RTX 4080 SUPER FE stock settings

Samsung SATA SSD 850 1TB

Kraken X72 with LGA1700 bracket

I changed the VCCCIN AUX to 2.0V to ensure it gets the juice on boot as my X299 7820X used to do something similar until I gave that initial boost to boot voltage and was stable thereafter so thought I'd try the same but it hasnt worked. I havent trued any fancy OCing and I'm using the settings that were present on initial boot for the CPU, and juat XMP 1 for the RAM.

I've also tried just bumping the RAM down to lower speeds in increments as most boot problems seem to be linked to RAM and getting the "advertised" speeds; however, what's odd is the behaviour is the same every time and yet the PC remains rock solid stable playing games like Cyberplonk, transferring large files between drives, using Photoshop etc. It is only the cold boot 🥶👢 that is my enemy.

Any ideas?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Can you show screenshot with command output from bcdedit command?
It has to be run from elevated command prompt or you'll get access denied error.
(upload screenshot to imgur.com and post link)

If there are any problems with BCD configuration, you can reset it with command.
(run from elevated command prompt)

bcdboot c:\windows​

​

Also show screenshot from Disk Management.
Bootloader partition might be too small and that is causing your particular problem.

 

[willyburns]

Can you show screenshot with command output from bcdedit command?
It has to be run from elevated command prompt or you'll get access denied error.
(upload screenshot to imgur.com and post link)

If there are any problems with BCD configuration, you can reset it with command.
(run from elevated command prompt)

bcdboot c:\windows​

​

Also show screenshot from Disk Management.
Bootloader partition might be too small and that is causing your particular problem.

https://imgur.com/a/Y6DChp2

View: https://imgur.com/a/Y6DChp2

 

[SkyNetRising]

Bootloader partition is only 100MB. Sometimes this can cause problems.
Recommended size is 350MB to 500MB.

1. You'll need windows Installation media.
If you don't have it, then prepare it using 8GB USB flash drive.
https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11

2. Boot from install media into command prompt.
Press Shift+F10 to open command prompt.

3. Execute following

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk x​

(select 238GB disk, check disk number, replace x with appropriate number, x=0 or x=1)​

list partition​

select partition x​

(select 237GB windows partition, replace x with appropriate number, x=2 or x=3)​

shrink desired=500​

create partition efi size=500​

format fs=fat32 quick​

assign letter=H​

select partition 1​

(select 100MB EFI system partition)​

delete partition override​

list volume​

(note drive letter for 237GB windows partition, it can be C: or D : )​

exit​

bcdboot C:\windows /s H: /f UEFI​

(I'm assuming windows partition drive letter was C: . If it was D: then change command accordingly.)​

Last message should be "Boot files created successfully.

If you get any errors, then stop immediately.
And show screenshot with command output.

 

[willyburns]

Bootloader partition is only 100MB. Sometimes this can cause problems.
Recommended size is 350MB to 500MB.

1. You'll need windows Installation media.
If you don't have it, then prepare it using 8GB USB flash drive.
https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11

2. Boot from install media into command prompt.
Press Shift+F10 to open command prompt.

3. Execute following

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk x​

(select 238GB disk, check disk number, replace x with appropriate number, x=0 or x=1)​

list partition​

select partition x​

(select 237GB windows partition, replace x with appropriate number, x=2 or x=3)​

shrink desired=500​

create partition efi size=500​

format fs=fat32 quick​

assign letter=H​

select partition 1​

(select 100MB EFI system partition)​

delete partition override​

list volume​

(note drive letter for 237GB windows partition, it can be C: or D : )​

exit​

bcdboot C:\windows /s H: /f UEFI​

(I'm assuming windows partition drive letter was C: . If it was D: then change command accordingly.)​

Last message should be "Boot files created successfully.

If you get any errors, then stop immediately.
And show screenshot with command output.

Okay, thanks for the help. Will llet you know how I get on when I get a chance 😉

 

[willyburns]

Bootloader partition is only 100MB. Sometimes this can cause problems.
Recommended size is 350MB to 500MB.

1. You'll need windows Installation media.
If you don't have it, then prepare it using 8GB USB flash drive.
https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11

2. Boot from install media into command prompt.
Press Shift+F10 to open command prompt.

3. Execute following

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk x​

(select 238GB disk, check disk number, replace x with appropriate number, x=0 or x=1)​

list partition​

select partition x​

(select 237GB windows partition, replace x with appropriate number, x=2 or x=3)​

shrink desired=500​

create partition efi size=500​

format fs=fat32 quick​

assign letter=H​

select partition 1​

(select 100MB EFI system partition)​

delete partition override​

list volume​

(note drive letter for 237GB windows partition, it can be C: or D : )​

exit​

bcdboot C:\windows /s H: /f UEFI​

(I'm assuming windows partition drive letter was C: . If it was D: then change command accordingly.)​

Last message should be "Boot files created successfully.

If you get any errors, then stop immediately.
And show screenshot with command output.

Right, I followed your instructions to the letter and everything went exactly as you described.

One observation I made before doing what you instructed was upon booting directly into BIOS I noticed that my M.2 Windows OS drive was now showing up in the "Peripherals" section; whereas, prior to this I would only see the SSD (see the final image I've uploaded to Imgur). Any idea what that is about? I'd noticed that it was absent in BIOS on my last build – I'm reusing the M.2 drive from that build.

Is there anything else I need to do from this point on? The 100MB partition is now unallocated. Is there any point messing with that or will it just remain unused?

https://imgur.com/a/l5bpKnD

View: https://imgur.com/a/l5bpKnD


😵‍💫👍

 

[SkyNetRising]

Everything looks great.
Don't worry about those unused 100MB.

Do you still get random booting into recovery mode?

 

[willyburns]

Everything looks great.
Don't worry about those unused 100MB.

Do you still get random booting into recovery mode?

I tried a cold boot after leaving the pc off for about half an hour and it booted without issue. I think you may well have cracked it! I honestly would never have checked that considering nothing during the Win installation process tells you to be mindful of limited space for the boot mgr.

I will report any oddities or failures if any occur in the future, but as of now I think you've nailed it. Here, have an icey cold glass of milk and a cookie for your troubles 🥛+🍪.

Many, many thanks!!
Over and out . . . 🤪👍