Question "The Boot Configuration Data for your PC is missing or contains errors"

[supratroopa7]

Hi,

I'm suddenly getting the following error on starting my PC:

Windows Boot Manager Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.
...
File: \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD
Status: Oxc000000d
Info: The Boot Configuration Data for your PC is missing or contains errors.

My configuration has not changed in any way. The specs are:

• AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
• ASRock B550M Pro4
• 4x 8GB DDR4 3200MHz
• SSD (boot drive)
• Two 4TB NAS drives
• 1TB HDD
• EVGA GTX 1660 Ti
• Windows 10

The ASRock logo shows up but I'm not able to get into BIOS. The error shows up right after. I cannot boot into a Windows installation USB. The PSC lights on the mobo are on for "Boot" and "VGA", but I tested both the GPU and SSD in another PC and they seem to work fine. I also tried removing the CMOS battery, removing RAM sticks to rule bad RAM out, unplugging the HDDs, and moving the SSD to another M.2. Slot.

What could be causing this, and what can I do to rebuild BCD if I can't boot into installation media?

 

[Ralston18]

PSU: make, model, wattage, age, condition (original to build, new, refurbished, used)?

Regarding the posted "Two 4TB NAS drives" - those drives are just on the network and not connected to the PC - correct?

Did you clear CMOS and/or replace the CMOS battery using the instructions provided in the motherboard's User Guide/Manual?

 

[supratroopa7]

PSU: make, model, wattage, age, condition (original to build, new, refurbished, used)?

Regarding the posted "Two 4TB NAS drives" - those drives are just on the network and not connected to the PC - correct?

Did you clear CMOS and/or replace the CMOS battery using the instructions provided in the motherboard's User Guide/Manual?

PSU: Corsair RM750x Refurb 2021, bought last year

The two NAS drives are part of the PC.

I don't have a CMOS jumper so I wanted to clear CMOS by removing the battery and waiting for half an hour.

 

[Ralston18]

As an immediate thought the refurbished PSU is a likely suspect.

That said, the next question is about those two "NAS drives": are they actually just shared drives on the PC? How are the drives connected to the PC?

All drives: make, model, capacity (NAS drives being 4 TB) , how full?

Check the motherboards User Guide/Manual to ensure that CMOS was indeed correctly cleared.

 

[supratroopa7]

I've figured out the problem: it turns out I couldn't get into BIOS because the USB ports suddenly died 😒 I now have 2 or 3 ports that still work so I plugged my keyboard into there and I got into BIOS. For some reason, the boot SSD shows up twice in the boot option, and they must have switched priority and locked me out of my computer.

Could my USB ports dying be a PSU issue as you pointed out? And why would my SN770 SSD show up twice in the boot options?