Boot Configuration Utility Throws 0x44

Reference:
https://support.storagecraft.com/s/article/Boot-Configuration-Utility-Throws-0x44?language=en_US&ui-force-components-controllers-recordGlobalValueProvider.RecordGvp.getRecord=1&r=6


Apr 17, 2018•Troubleshooting

There are 2 scenarios that have been encountered to produce this 0x44 error message. 

  • Scenario 1 - The disk was initialized as a GPT boot disk with the StorageCraft Recovery Environment CrossPlatform. The Recovery Environment Created the boot partitions, but the partition was not set as an EFI system partition. 
Note #1Note: Currently the CrossPlatform RE is only capable of performing a Windows restore to Legacy enabled UEFI or BIOS firmware.
  • Scenario 2 - The disk was initialized as GPT, the 2 created partitions where deleted, then the entire disk length was partitioned for the operating system, and the backup image was restored.
This error message means that the partition targeted within the Boot Configuration Utility does not contain an EFI System Partition on the disk.

For more information about the StorageCraft Recovery Environments Boot Configuration Utility see Windows System Unable to Boot After StorageCraft Restore.

Resolution
  1. Create the StorageCraft Recovery Environment for Windows (WinPE) x64 ISO. For instructions here is a link to the documentation.
  2. Below is a list of requirements for the EFI enabled UEFI boot process to complete.
  • Disk must be initialized as GPT
  • Disk must contain an EFI system partition on the same disk as the bootable partition
  • The EFI partition must contain a bootloader (BCD)
  • The bootloader must point to the correct path in order to direct the load of Winload.efi
  1. Change your boot order as needed to boot to the WinPE ISO.
  2. Select Tools, then select Boot Configuration Utility (BCU).

Scenario 1

  1. Select the bootable partition, then click Auto Repair.
  2. If auto Repair results in "0x44" review the disk map:
REX Broke it
  1. In this example, the disk length appears to be correctly configured. There are 2 partitions before the operating systems partition. Now we bring our attention to the disk maps table of partitions on disk:
User-added image
  1. The underlined FAT32 partition is supposed to be an "EFI System Partition" (ESP). Because the partition is not recognize as an ESP partition, the boot configuration utility can not interact with the partition. 
  2. Right click on the Fat32 partition denoted above from the Disk Map tab, select Delete Partition:
Delete Partition
  1. Right click on the newly created unallocated space at the beginning of the disk length, then select Create Primary Partition:
REX GPT 0x44 Create Primary partition
  1. Within the Create Partition window, change the Partition type to EFI System Partition, and select OK:
REX GPT 0x44 Create Primary partition options
  1. Right click on the newly created EFI System Partition, then select Format:
Format
  1. Within the Format Volume window, select FAT32 for the File System. Mark the Perform a quick format check box, then select OK:
REX GPT 0x44 format fat32
  1. Check to ensure the disk map being edited looks as follows:
REX GPT 0x44 Disk Map correct
  1. Enter the Boot Configuration Utility, target the operating system partition, then select Auto Repair, and review the log:
BCD Compatible Windows Installation. Installing File,X:\windows\ShadowProtectPE\BCD-Template,Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD. Installing File,Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgr.efi,Y:\bootmgr.efi. Installing File,Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi,Y:\EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {bootmgr} device partition=\Device\Harddisk0\Partition1 The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {bootmgr} path \efi\microsoft\boot\bootmgfw.efi The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {memdiag} device partition=\Device\Harddisk0\Partition1 The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /deletevalue {bootmgr} displayorder The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {default} device partition=C: The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {default} osdevice partition=C: The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {default} path \windows\system32\winload.efi The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {bootmgr} displayorder {default} The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {bootmgr} default {default} The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {fwbootmgr} displayorder {bootmgr} /addfirst An error occurred while attempting to reference the specified entry. The system cannot find the file specified. 
  1. Review the top pane of the BCU. If the partition is marked as bootable, disconnect the WinPE ISO and attempt to restart in to windows:
REX GPT 0x44 auto repair
  1. If the issue is not resolved please continue troubleshooting with Windows Advanced Startup Troubleshooting for UEFI.

Scenario 2

  1. If auto Repair results in "0x44" review the disk map:

User Error GPT 0x44 broken

  1. In this example, the disk length appears to be incorrectly configured. When initialized as GPT from the StorageCraft Recovery Environment, there are 2 partitions before the operating systems partition. This example, shows a disk initialized as GPT, then the ESP and reserve partitions where deleted and the entire disk map was used for the operating system.

Note #2Note: This solution is contingent on the size of the restored image. If the restored partition was greater then 2 TB in size, the following solution may not resolve your issue. As a UEFI standard, the EFI partition must be contained on the first 2.2 TB of space upon the GPT initialized disk. If a 3TB Backup image were restored as in scenario 2, the proposed solution to shrink the volume and write an EFI partition at the end of the disk length would not work unless the disk was shrunk to be less then 2.1 TB, and the ESP was placed within the UEFI limit. 

  1. Select Tools, then select Disk Partitioning. use the following commands to target the disk and partition restored then to perform a shrink on the partition:
list disk select disk x (where x is the Disk number containing the bootable partition) list partition select partition x (where x is partition number containing the bootable OS) shrink desired=500 minimum=100
User Error GPT 0x44 DiskPart
  1. Exit Disk part, Right click on the disk map tab (not on a partition) and select Refresh Volumes Info:
Refresh volume info
  1. This will refresh the disk map to reflect the changes made with disk partitioning. Right click on the unallocated space and select Create Primary Partition:
User Error GPT 0x44 Create Primary Partition
  1. Within the Create Partition window, change the Partition Type to EFI System Partition, and select OK:
User Error GPT 0x44 Create Primary Partition options
  1. Right click on the newly created EFI System Partition, then select Format:
User Error GPT 0x44 format
  1. Within the Format Volume window, select FAT32 for the File System. Mark the Perform a Quick Format check box, then select OK:
Format Fat32
  1. Check to ensure the disk map being edited looks as follows:
User Error GPT 0x44 check diskmap
  1. Enter the Boot configuration utility, target the bootable partition, then select Auto Repair, and review the log:
BCD Compatible Windows Installation. Installing File,X:\windows\ShadowProtectPE\BCD-Template,Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD. Installing File,Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgr.efi,Y:\bootmgr.efi. Installing File,Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi,Y:\EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {bootmgr} device partition=\Device\Harddisk0\Partition2 The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {bootmgr} path \efi\microsoft\boot\bootmgfw.efi The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {memdiag} device partition=\Device\Harddisk0\Partition2 The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /deletevalue {bootmgr} displayorder The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {default} device partition=C: The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {default} osdevice partition=C: The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {default} path \windows\system32\winload.efi The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {bootmgr} displayorder {default} The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {bootmgr} default {default} The operation completed successfully. X:\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe /store Y:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {fwbootmgr} displayorder {bootmgr} /addfirst An error occurred while attempting to reference the specified entry. The system cannot find the file specified. 
  1. Review the top pane of the BCU. If the partition is marked as bootable, disconnect the WinPE ISO and attempt to restart in to windows:
User Error GPT 0x44 bootable
  1. If the issue is not resolved please continue troubleshooting with Windows Advanced Startup Troubleshooting for UEFI.

Additional Information:

Please bear in mind that a restore to different hardware will still need to be dealt with using the How To: Remove Hidden (Non Present) Devices after an HIR article as a guide.