Oh what a rat hole I've been following...
This started with me trying to update Win10. I have tried to install "Feature update to Windows 10, version 21H2," but I kept getting a Windows install error of 0x800703ee. Not a helpful error message, so I found a few pages on ways to work around it, such as https://www.technipages.com/windows-10-update-error-0x800703ee
I tried disabling the various programs and cleaning the disk as the webpage suggested, then when I tried updating through the Windows Catalog website, I got a bit more information... still the same error code, but it said "We can't tell if your PC has enough space to continue installing Windows 10." Hmmm, thanks to some companies not liking to install their products on non-C: drives my 256MB SSD was getting a little full. So, I bought a new 1TB drive (always amazing how prices drop) and cloned. Booting from the new 1TB drive and running the update gave me the same error code and message, so definitely not a lack of space problem as the new boot partition is 910GB (see pic in link below)...
I went to the web again and tried various suggestions (disable antivirus, remove extraneous hardware, etc.) and then landed on this page: [SOLVED] - We can't tell if your PC has enough space to continue installing Windows 10.
This site is what has led me to suspect something with my BCD, or lack thereof. First, I don't have an EFI partition. Here is my drive info: Disk Management
I then found this page that somewhat explains why I can still boot, but damned if I can find a hidden EFI folder (yes, I'm displaying hidden folders). I'm confused! I don't have an EFI partition in my drive, but I can boot Windows 10 anyways
I created a recovery boot disk (USB), and using some of the guidance from the sysnative site and this one (How to rebuild BCD or Boot Configuration Data file in Windows 11/10) I tried to apply some of those suggestions. BUT (and thank you for following me down this rat hole to read this far) when I initially tried 'bootrec /rebuildbcd' it found my C: partition, but it came with an error stating "The requested system device cannot be found". Weird, I then went and found this site:3 Solutions to Fix the Requested System Device Cannot Be Found
Some interesting info on that site and I checked to see that my drive is in MBR mode not GPT. I tried booting the USB drive in both Legacy mode and UEFI mode. Still no issue, EXCEPT, now (and I forget what I did to cause this effect) when I run 'bootrec /rebuildbcd' no windows partitions are found. WHAT?
So, at the end of all of this, I want my system to install the Windows update. I've decided I need some help, as this onion just keeps peeling and peeling. I included the other information to show what I have tried and the potentially false path of fixing the BCD (but that is the path I followed through a process of elimination of other possible fixes/workarounds). What else... from the SSD, my system is booting in Legacy mode (not sure why I did that and my ASRock Z77 setup menu does not show a clear selection to boot into UEFI). Also, when I do boot into the boot loader I have three options, Windows 10, Windows 10 (1), and Windows 7. Unsure how all that happened, but I think the Win7 is from the recovery partition, but weird that it doesn't show up with the 'bootrec /rebuildbcd' windows installations scan. And finally, whenever I try to create a recovery disk it given me an error that it can't because "some required files are missing." I found this link, but did not try anything on it (Redirecting). I did a sfc /scannow and no errors were reported. It seems I am stuck (other than building from scratch).
Any thoughts? While I'd love a final fix, even your insights on how my system is booting without a BCD or an obvious EFI folder would be good knowledge to have.
Thanks, PauleyB
This started with me trying to update Win10. I have tried to install "Feature update to Windows 10, version 21H2," but I kept getting a Windows install error of 0x800703ee. Not a helpful error message, so I found a few pages on ways to work around it, such as https://www.technipages.com/windows-10-update-error-0x800703ee
I tried disabling the various programs and cleaning the disk as the webpage suggested, then when I tried updating through the Windows Catalog website, I got a bit more information... still the same error code, but it said "We can't tell if your PC has enough space to continue installing Windows 10." Hmmm, thanks to some companies not liking to install their products on non-C: drives my 256MB SSD was getting a little full. So, I bought a new 1TB drive (always amazing how prices drop) and cloned. Booting from the new 1TB drive and running the update gave me the same error code and message, so definitely not a lack of space problem as the new boot partition is 910GB (see pic in link below)...
I went to the web again and tried various suggestions (disable antivirus, remove extraneous hardware, etc.) and then landed on this page: [SOLVED] - We can't tell if your PC has enough space to continue installing Windows 10.
This site is what has led me to suspect something with my BCD, or lack thereof. First, I don't have an EFI partition. Here is my drive info: Disk Management
I then found this page that somewhat explains why I can still boot, but damned if I can find a hidden EFI folder (yes, I'm displaying hidden folders). I'm confused! I don't have an EFI partition in my drive, but I can boot Windows 10 anyways
I created a recovery boot disk (USB), and using some of the guidance from the sysnative site and this one (How to rebuild BCD or Boot Configuration Data file in Windows 11/10) I tried to apply some of those suggestions. BUT (and thank you for following me down this rat hole to read this far) when I initially tried 'bootrec /rebuildbcd' it found my C: partition, but it came with an error stating "The requested system device cannot be found". Weird, I then went and found this site:3 Solutions to Fix the Requested System Device Cannot Be Found
Some interesting info on that site and I checked to see that my drive is in MBR mode not GPT. I tried booting the USB drive in both Legacy mode and UEFI mode. Still no issue, EXCEPT, now (and I forget what I did to cause this effect) when I run 'bootrec /rebuildbcd' no windows partitions are found. WHAT?
So, at the end of all of this, I want my system to install the Windows update. I've decided I need some help, as this onion just keeps peeling and peeling. I included the other information to show what I have tried and the potentially false path of fixing the BCD (but that is the path I followed through a process of elimination of other possible fixes/workarounds). What else... from the SSD, my system is booting in Legacy mode (not sure why I did that and my ASRock Z77 setup menu does not show a clear selection to boot into UEFI). Also, when I do boot into the boot loader I have three options, Windows 10, Windows 10 (1), and Windows 7. Unsure how all that happened, but I think the Win7 is from the recovery partition, but weird that it doesn't show up with the 'bootrec /rebuildbcd' windows installations scan. And finally, whenever I try to create a recovery disk it given me an error that it can't because "some required files are missing." I found this link, but did not try anything on it (Redirecting). I did a sfc /scannow and no errors were reported. It seems I am stuck (other than building from scratch).
Any thoughts? While I'd love a final fix, even your insights on how my system is booting without a BCD or an obvious EFI folder would be good knowledge to have.
Thanks, PauleyB
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Glad you got it sorted. Thanks for letting us know.