Running [Bootrec /fixboot] Returned Error 'Access is denied' - FIX 2023

PAGE CONTENT:

What's bootrec /fixboot?
How to Fix "bootrec /fixboot access is denied" Error?
Alternative Ways to Fix Windows Boot Problems

Bootrec (bootrec.exe) utility is for reviving a failed, not working, or not responding operating system in Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE). What if running the command bootrec /fixboot returned the error message 'Access is denied? This article offers one real solution for you to fix the bootrec /fixboot access denied in Windows 10/8/7, plus other alternative ways to fix the Windows startup problems.

What's bootrec /fixboot?

The [bootrec /fixboot] is a command performed in the Bootrec.exe tool in Windows Recovery Environment. Bootrec /fixboot writes a new boot sector to the system partition by using a boot sector that's compatible with the present Windows system. E.g., if your system is Windows 7, fixboot will write a Windows 7-compatible boot sector and so forth. This fixboot command is normally used to fix a number of startup errors and problems like:

• The boot sector is damaged
• Black screen on startup
• Missing boot device
• Blue screen of death
• Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart
• Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.

In fact, all three situations are pointed to a PC that cannot start properly. One common way to fix such errors is to run the command "bootrec /fixboot". However, running the bootrec /fixboot command is likely to cause a new round of problems. An error says that access is denied. How to make the command take effect while the access is denied then?

How to Fix "bootrec /fixboot access is denied" Error?

To run the bootrec.exe, you'll first create a Windows installation media USB flash drive to enter the Windows RE. According to the discussions on Microsoft community, many victims who had the same issue with the command bootrec/ fixboot access is denied, are using the Windows 10 1709 installation media. After they tried the same command with Windows 10 1703 installation media, they do not get the error again.

On condition that your situation is not caused by the installation media, the most effective way to troubleshoot the bootrec /fixboot access denied error is to recreate EFI structure and reconfigure the boot files.

Step 1. At first, turn off your computer. After that, switch on as soon as your system starts up and you see the manufacturer's logo, press and hold the power button again to force shut down the system. Repeat the steps several times and it will automatically read the startup repair screen. Here is what we're going to officially apply the fixes.

Step 2. When your computer boots up, you will be represented by the Automatic Repair window. Click on the Advanced options button.

Step 3. In the Choose an option window, choose the Troubleshoot option.

Step 4. Next, proceed with the Advanced options.

Step 5. In the Advanced options window, choose the Command Prompt option.

Step 6. In the Command Prompt window, type commands diskpart and then list disk one by one and hit Enter to open Diskpart and list information of your disks available.

Step 7. Next, you'll need to choose the disk # where Windows is installed, and the volume # that represents the EFI partition (Usually, the EFI partition have 100MB storage and formatted in FAT32 format. For example, disk 0 is the HDD drive containing Windows and volume 5 is the EFI partition. So, here you will type select disk 0, list vol, and select vol 5.

Step 8. Now you need to assign a new drive letter to the EFI partition. Type assign letter=V: and hit Enter.

Step 9. After diskpart assigned the drive letter successfully, type exit to exit the diskpart and press Enter.

Step 10. Now type the comamnd V: and after that run the command bcdboot C:\windows /s V: /f UEFI and hit Enter.

Step 11. Close the Command Prompt window and return to the Troubleshooting window, click on Continue to normally boot into Windows 10 without getting any errors.

Alternative Ways to Fix Windows Boot Problems

According to Microsoft, there are several useful commands in Bootrec.exe that are used to troubleshoot the Windows startup problems caused by different locations on a Windows installation hard drive. Besides bootrec /fixboot, which is used to fix the damage to the Windows boot sectors/boot records, the other command bootrec /fixmbr is also widely used when there is a problem with the hardware Master Boot Record (MBR). With MBR failure, Windows cannot start either.

Hence, when you must resolve the MBR corruption issues, or when you have to remove nonstandard code from the MBR, use the command bootrec /fixmbr instead of bootrec /fixboot in this case.

Using the fixmbr command in Windows RE is also prone to cause the same access denied issue as the fixboot does. To prevent you from this annoying error and save your time from learning every possible way to troubleshoot the constant error like this, it's better to turn to a third-party partition manager that enables you to rebuild MBR for a specific drive.

Among these, we suggest EaseUS Partition Master. It's a perfect alternative to bootrec /fixmbr to rebuild the Master Boot Record that only requires a few mouse clicks. More importantly, ease your worry of typing the wrong commands and causing more serious boot problems in Windows 10/8/7. Download EaseUS partition magic software now, and see how intelligent it is to fix an MBR corruption issue.

Step 1. Create a WinPE bootable disk

• Launch EaseUS Partition Master, and click "Bootable Media" on the toolbar. Select "Create bootable media".
• Click "Next" to finish the process.

Step 2. Boot EaseUS Partition Master Bootable USB

• Connect the bootable USB or CD/DVD to your PC. 
• Press F2 or Del when you restart the computer to enter the BIOS screen. Set and boot your computer from "Removable Devices" or "CD-ROM Drive". And then EaseUS Partition Master will run automatically.

Step 3. Rebuild MBR

• Click "Toolkit" and choose "Rebuild MBR".

• Select the disk and the type of MBR. Then, click "Rebuild".

• After that, you can see "MBR has been successfully rebuilt on Disk X".