[Solved] Winload.efi is missing after cloning (2023)

Quick navigation:

• Winload.efi is missing or contains an error after cloning
• Causes of Winload.efi missing after cloning
• 4 Ways to Fix Winload.efiMissing Errors
• Best way to avoid losing Winload.efi after cloning
• Conclusion

Winload.efi is missing or contains an error after cloning

You may find that Winload.efi is missing or contains errors after a clone like this:

The Winload.exe file is the Windows operating system boot loader (an Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) file) to boot the system properly. On UEFI systems, it is called winload.efi and is located in \Windows\System32\winload.efi or \Windows\System32\boot\winload.efi.

Sometimes you may encounter other error codes associated with Winload.efi file such as: This article will help you to fix these winload.efi missing issues with detailed steps.

Causes of Winload.efiMissing after Clone

Winload.efi is missing error usually occurs after cloning, after sysprep, after imaging or even after Windows update. There are a few factors that must be responsible for the missing Winload.efi file after cloning:

1. The wrong registry key.Source disk and destination disk have different ID for volume and drive letter, so you need to change the registry key after cloning.

2.Incorrect UEFI settings.UEFI and Legacy modes require different initialization files and algorithms. So make sure you configure the correct settings for the target disk.

3.Corrupted BCD files.Sometimes cloning corrupts BCD save files and then you get this Winload.efi 0xc0000225 error message or other Winload.efi missing issues. Just repair BCD files first.

So how to fix application or operating system failed to load due to missing winload.efi? Do not worry about it! We will provide you the solutions to quickly fix the problem in Windows 7/8/10/11.

4 Ways to Fix Winload.efi Missing Errors

Depending on the cause, we offer the following quick fixes for you, just take a look.

Solution 1 – Disable Secure Boot

Secure Boot prevents your system from accessing the winload.efi file if you have a UEFI-based computer. so startBIOSÖUEFIaboveF2,F8,F12,ESCÖVONkey (varies by PC manufacturer) and look for thesecure bootpossibility oneBIOSÖUEFI, and thenDisabledThat is.

If the above steps don't work for you then try the following ways.

Solution 2: Use DiskPart to repair

1. Boot the Windows installation media and go tofix your computer->expanded options->solve problems->Symbol des Systems.

2. Enter these commands to fix winload.efi is missing error in Windows 7/8/10/11:

• disk part

• listen volume

• select the volume = n(where n refers to the volume number of the system reserved partition named "System")

• Assign letter = m(m is the correct, unused drive letter)

• bcdboot c:\Windows /s m: /f uefi(Replace the letter "c" with the letter of the system partition called "Boot")

Now restart your computer to check if winload.efi is missing after resolving the clone. If nothing helps, try solution 3.

Solution 3 – Check and Repair Windows System Files

1. Open a command prompt with Windows installation media and run the following command:

• sfc /scan now

  (Video) Fix Error After Cloning HDD SSD - Error in file winload.efi

Or enter the following commands to fix winload.exe missing after cloning error:

• bcdedit /enumeration | Find "Operating System Device"(to find the drive letter of the partition installed by Windows).

• sfc /scan now/OFFBOOTDIR=C:\ /OFFWINDIR=C:\Windows(Replace C: with the drive letter of the partition installed by Windows).

Solution 4 – Repair corrupted BCD files

If the above methods don't work, try this way. First, you need to prepare an installation media for Windows 7/8/10/11, launch the recovery environment and rebuild the BCD storage.If you have a Windows installation disk, see this text.

1. Boot intoWindows Recovery EnvironmentMedia Installations.

2. Choosefix your computer->expanded options->solve problems->Symbol des Systems.

3. Then enter the following commands to repair Master Boot Record (MBR), boot sector and BCD memory one by one:

• bootrec /fixmbr

• bootrec /fixboot

• bootrec /scanos

• bootrec /reconstruirbcd

If the above steps don't work, try the following commands:
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} Device initialization
bcdedit /set {default} Device Initialization
bcdedit /set {default} device initialization
bcdedit /set {default} device partition=c:
bcdedit /set {default} osdevice partition=c:
bcdedit /set ruta {predeterminado} \windows\system32\winload.efi

4. Restart your computer to verify that it was successful.

clear,if you don't have a Windows installation disk, you can create one yourself. The powerful third-party media creation tool:AOMEI Backupper ProfessionalHe's going to do you a big favor. Before fixing winload.efimissing or containing error after cloning, please download AOMEI Backupper Professional to create WinPE bootable media. You can also prepare a USB flash drive of at least 16GB and connect it to your computer.

1. Open this software after installation, selectinstruments->Create bootable mediain the main window.

2. Select the boot disk type:Linux: Create a Linux Kernel-Based Boot DiskÖWindows PE: Create a Windows PE-based boot disk. and pressurenextcontinue

★Consejo: You can check the option:Download the WinPE Authoring Environment from the Internet.

3. Select theusb boot deviceand hitnextto create a universal bootable USB.

★Consejo: You can also burn WinPE to a CD/DVD or export it to an ISO file. If you don't have storage devices, you can alsoCreate a recovery environmentIt adds AOMEI Backupper to Windows boot options directly, just acts as Windows boot media and much easier.

After creating a bootable media (just a few minutes), boot your computer from that media, AOMEI Backupper will run automatically and go toinstruments->Comando shell do Windows🇧🇷 And you can restore system image or disk image created by AOMEI Backupper.

In addition, you may encounter other cloning issues such as:File:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD error, Windows 10 BCD file is missing, Seagate DiscWizard is not cloning, Transcend SSD Scope is not working in system cloning, etc., this powerful software can still help you to solve the problem.

Best way to avoid losing Winload.efi after cloning

If you keep encountering problems after or during cloning, you can use powerful disk cloning software for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11 – AOMEI Backupper Professional to clone hard disk.

• Asclone diskWith this feature, you can clone all types of hard drives easily, such as:Clone HDD and SSD, NVMe and NVMe cloning etc.
• If youClone boot disk to another, the cloned drive is still bootable after cloning.
• It also has the ability to improve SSD performance such as read and write speeds and extend its lifespan.
• Furthermore, it is capableClone MBR disk to GPTwithout data loss or vice versa.

In short, you can clone hard drive without winload easily. efi missing after cloning or 0xc000000e after Windows 10 cloning. Here, we are going to use Windows 10 cloning for NVMe as an example.

1. ChooseClone->clone diskno console principal.

Mouse:AOMEI Backupper Professional version supports cloning all data disk and system disk, from MBR to MBR, MBR to GPT, GPT to GPT (for example:NVMe clone for NVMe major) e GPT e MBR.

2. Select Windows system disk as the source disk to clone and pressnext.

3. Select a larger HDD or SSD as the destination and pressnext.

4. View operations and pressstart cloneclone hard disk in Windows 10. If your target is SSD drive, check itSSD Alignmentto optimize SSD read and write speed.

★Conselhos:
✍Clone sector by sector: Make sure your destination is equal to or greater than this source disk when enabling this option. It clones all sectors of a hard drive including blank sectors and bad sectors.
✍Edit Partitions: Helps to convert disk type (MBR or GPT) when source disk and destination disk are different. Besides, it also has ability to add unused space to all partitions or adjust partition size manually.

After cloning, if necessary, change the first boot device as the target disk (the cloned drive) in BIOS and boot the computer from the cloned disk.

Of course, you can backup entire disk to an image file and then restore the image file to the target drive, same result as cloned drive and you won't find Winload.efi missing after Windows 11/ 10/8/7 .

Conclusion

It is easy to resolve Windows\system32\winload.efi is missing after cloning or Winload.efi contains error issue as per above solutions. Also, winload.efi is missing on Windows Server 2012 (R2), 2016, 2019, try itAOMEI Backupper-Servergetting ready

If you are an IT technician, give it a tryAOMEI Technical Backupper Plusto enjoy advanced features like system clone, universal restore, command line utility, dynamic disk volume cloning, PXE boot tool, AOMEI Image Deploy, etc.