Error message when you restart Windows Server 2008 R2 after you perform a full OS recovery: “Windows failed to start. Status: 0xc000000e”

Symptoms

When you restart for the first time after you perform a full OS recovery of Windows 2008 R2, you receive the following error message:

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem:

1. Insert your Windows installation disc and restart your computer.
2. Choose your language settings, and then click "Next."
3. Click "Repair your computer."

If you do not have this disc, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance.

Status: 0xc000000e

Info: The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible.

Cause

When you perform a new installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 from a DVD to unallocated space, two partitions are created. During a recovery operation, the contents of the Boot folder are first restored from the ASR Writer backup and then restored again from the backup on drive C. This double restore action causes an inconsistency in the drive GUID definitions within the Boot folder data. This inconsistency leads to the boot error.

Resolution

To recover from this error, use the bcdedit command-line tool. To do this, follow these steps:

1.    Start the server by using Windows Server 2008 R2 media.

2.    Select Repair your computer.

1.    Select Command Prompt.

2.    At the command prompt, run the bcdedit command. Lists of items appear under Windows Boot Manager and under Windows Boot Loader.

3.    Look for the values for the following items :

a.     Under Windows Boot Manager, the Device item should be set to unknown.

b.    Under Windows Boot Loader, theDevice and osdevice items should be set to unknown.

1.    Run the following three commands to correct the settings, and then restart the computer:

a.     bcdedit /set {default} device partition=c:

b.    bcdedit /set {default} osdevice partition=c:

c.     bcdedit /set {bootmgr} device partition=c:

2.    Or, locate X:\Sources\Recovery, and then run StartRep.exe to start a quick automated startup repair utility that corrects boot environment values.

Note This issue occurs only with certain backup tools. When most backup tools are used, you experience no GUID corruption.