Level 1

0 points

Windows Boot Option Gone

Hi,

I'm using a mid 2012 Macbook Pro with Yosemite installed and have been running a Windows 8.1, now 10, partition on my computer for awhile. Usually I can boot into either OS by powering off and holding the option button, but suddenly the option to boot in Windows is gone. Since I'm not sure what exactly caused this and I'm having trouble understanding the solutions other people have had on here, I'm just going to list everything that happened in the hopes that I can get this fixed.

I upgraded to Windows 10 a few days ago with no problems.
I decided I wanted to use essentially only Windows on my Mac, so I started to try to resize the partitions which were 150GB for Windows and 350GB for Yosemite, give or take.
I wasn't able to resize the core partition since Yosemite doesn't allow that without difficulty, so I first turned off FireVault and rebooted, which didn't seem to do anything at all. Then I updated Yosemite, which I have been neglecting for a couple of months. After the updates had finished, I was able to resize the core partition. I think turning off FireVault fixed this but I'm not sure.
I then booted in Windows and moved all of my files over there and resized the partition using a third party tool, MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition.
Then I booted back into the Mac partition and began deleting any other files I didn't need since I wouldn't be opening that partition very often. I could have deleted essential files to the system, but I really hope I wasn't that stupid.
After I got the partition to about 60GB, I resized it again to give the Windows partition more room to resize.
When I tried to boot into Windows, the option was gone, leaving just the Mac partition, EFI, and my flash drive.
Going back into the Mac partition, I checked in Disk Utility and found everything looking very normal, with my Windows partition at about 80GB with ~100GB to spare. So I haven't deleted anything, I just can't open it.

I think that's all I need to say on this, I've tried messing around with terminal but I really have no idea what I'm doing there...

I can't just reinstall Windows because I will lose all my files, so there must be a way around this!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Aug 10, 2015 8:04 PM

28 replies

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Aug 12, 2015 6:39 AM in response to nearclouding

Please do the same with next MS Data at 684136448.

nearclouding Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 12, 2015 6:41 AM in response to Loner T

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Aug 12, 2015 6:48 AM in response to nearclouding

Are you able to see files in the Bootcamp volume that is currently visible in Finder? if yes, since this entry exists in both the GPT and the MBR, let us try the simple fix first. Please start a new Terminal windows and ignore the i386 MBR errors message but not any other errors.

sudo fdisk -e /dev/disk0

setpid 4

flag 4

Reboot and check if Windows will come up.

nearclouding Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 12, 2015 6:59 AM in response to Loner T

Windows now does come up, but when I try to boot into it, I get this error message on a blue screen:

Recovery

Your PC/Device needs to be repaired

A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed.

Error code: 0xc0000225

You'll need to use recovery tools. If you don't have any installation media (like a disc or USB device), contact your PC administrator or PC/Device manufacturer.

Press Enter to try again

Press F8 for Startup Settings

Is this because I have Windows 8.1 on my USB for when I originally installed it and now I have upgraded to Windows 10? Or are there more steps?

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Aug 12, 2015 7:07 AM in response to nearclouding

If you have the W10 installer, you can try that repair. The other option is to use Bootrec.exe and do a rebuildBCD. If you are on W10, do not use the W8 recovery.

nearclouding Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 12, 2015 7:14 AM in response to Loner T

Okay, I'll move the 10 installer to my USB, I'll let you know how that goes. Thank you so much for all your help!

nearclouding Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 12, 2015 8:55 AM in response to nearclouding

Okay, I wasn't able to repair with the W10 installer. I've been trying to figure out how to use Bootrec.exe but I'm not sure what to do or how to get to it/download it.

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Aug 12, 2015 9:28 AM in response to nearclouding

Please see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/927392 . I have not tested BCD recovery on W10.

nearclouding Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 12, 2015 9:46 AM in response to Loner T

That didn't work but I think I'm about ready to just wipe the partition and start over. Is there any way I can transfer the files from Windows to an external hard drive? Or anything else I should try?

Again, thank you so much for your help, I probably would've made an even bigger mess of things if not for you!

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Aug 12, 2015 10:10 AM in response to nearclouding

Can you see the Bootcamp volume in OSX Finder? If yes, you have read-only access to it. You can copy any files you want/need.

nearclouding Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 12, 2015 10:31 AM in response to Loner T

I do have read-only access, but I cannot find any of the files I need. Before I messed everything up, I was able to go into users, myname, then into documents, music, desktop etc. and view my files. Now all of those folders are blank even though the OS tells me Bootcamp has 80GB used.

nearclouding Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 12, 2015 2:51 PM in response to nearclouding

I couldn't get any of my files back, so I gave up and just erased the partition and am starting from scratch, there aren't a lot of files I'll miss anyway. But thank you so much for being incredibly helpful and walking me through all of this, even though I didn't save my files, I definitely learned a lot and I really appreciate it! I'll be getting an external hard drive ASAP to back up my files.

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Aug 12, 2015 2:58 PM in response to nearclouding

I wish we had recovered your installation completely. 😟. Glad to see the planned backup strategy.

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Windows Boot Option Gone