Fix 0xC0000225 STATUS_NOT_FOUND: 3 Steps That Work

What is 0xC0000225 and Why You're Seeing It

You turn on your PC and instead of the Windows login screen, you get a blue screen with 0xC0000225 and the message “The object was not found.” This happens when Windows can't locate the boot configuration data (BCD) or the boot files it needs to start. It's not a hardware failure—it's usually a software configuration problem.

I've seen this on Windows 10 and 11 machines, often after a failed Windows update, a sudden power loss, or when someone accidentally changed the BIOS boot order. It also shows up when you clone a drive and don't set the new drive as the first boot device.

Don't panic. You can fix this in three stages, each taking more time than the last. Start with the quick check, then move on if it doesn't work.

Fix 1: Check the Boot Order (30 seconds)

This is the simplest fix, and it solves more cases than you'd think. If your PC tries to boot from the wrong drive—say, a USB stick you left plugged in or a secondary hard drive—Windows can't find its boot files and throws 0xC0000225.

1. Shut down your PC completely.
2. Unplug any USB drives, external hard drives, or SD cards. Yes, even that mouse dongle—though that usually doesn't cause this, it's better to be safe.
3. Turn the PC back on and immediately press the key to enter the BIOS/UEFI setup. That's usually Del, F2, F10, or Esc—depends on your motherboard. You'll see it on the splash screen.
4. In the BIOS, find the Boot or Boot Priority section.
5. Make sure your Windows drive (usually the one with “Windows Boot Manager” or the SSD/HDD with Windows installed) is first in the list.
6. Press F10 to save and exit, then confirm when it asks.

After rebooting, you should see the Windows logo. If you do, you're done—took less than a minute. If not, move to Fix 2.

Fix 2: Repair the BCD Automatically (5 minutes)

If the boot order is fine, the BCD is likely corrupted or missing. Windows has a built-in repair tool that can fix this without you touching command lines. But here's the catch: you need a Windows installation media (a USB stick or DVD) to access it.

If you don't have one, you can create it on another PC using the Microsoft Media Creation Tool. That takes a bit longer, but you'll need it for the advanced fix anyway.

1. Insert your Windows USB or DVD and boot from it. You might need to change the boot order temporarily—see Fix 1 for that.
2. When the Windows Setup screen appears, click Next.
3. Click Repair your computer in the bottom-left corner. Don't click “Install now.”
4. In the recovery environment, click Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Repair.
5. Select your operating system if it asks. Then let it run. This can take 5–10 minutes.

Startup Repair will scan for problems and attempt to fix the BCD. After it finishes, it'll say something like “Startup Repair couldn't repair your PC” sometimes—don't give up yet. Reboot and see if Windows starts. If it does, great. If not, you're at the advanced stage.

Fix 3: Rebuild the BCD Manually (15+ minutes)

When automatic repair fails, it's time to get your hands dirty. This involves using bootrec commands from the Command Prompt in the recovery environment. It's not as scary as it sounds—I've walked dozens of people through this over the phone.

Here's the step-by-step, and I'll tell you what to expect after each command.

1. Boot from your Windows installation media again, go to Repair your computer → Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Command Prompt.
2. Type bootrec /fixmbr and press Enter. This writes a new master boot record to the system partition. It should say “The operation completed successfully.”
3. Type bootrec /fixboot and press Enter. This writes a new boot sector. If it gives you “Access is denied” or “The system cannot find the file specified,” don't worry—that's common on UEFI systems with GPT disks. You can skip to step 5.
4. Type bootrec /scanos and press Enter. It scans for Windows installations and should find your Windows folder. If it says “Total identified Windows installations: 0,” that's a problem—your Windows drive might not be visible. Check that the drive is connected and recognized in the BIOS.
5. Type bootrec /rebuildbcd and press Enter. It will scan for Windows installations and ask if you want to add one to the boot list. Type Y and press Enter if it finds your installation. If it says “Total identified Windows installations: 0,” you'll need to add the BCD store manually—keep reading.

If /rebuildbcd Finds Nothing

Sometimes the BCD store is so messed up that bootrec can't see it. You'll need to delete the old BCD and create a new one. In the same Command Prompt, type these commands one at a time:

del C:\Boot\BCD

This deletes the existing BCD file. If you get “Access denied,” you may need to change attributes first:

attrib -h -r -s C:\Boot\BCD
del C:\Boot\BCD

After that, run:

bcdboot C:\Windows

This copies the boot files from your Windows folder to the system partition and builds a fresh BCD. You should see “Boot files successfully created.”

Now type exit and reboot. Your PC should boot normally. If it still doesn't, you're looking at a deeper issue—maybe the drive is failing or the Windows partition is damaged. But in my experience, this manual rebuild fixes 90% of 0xC0000225 cases.

Real-World Scenario

I had a client last month whose PC wouldn't boot after a power outage during a Windows update. They got 0xC0000225 right at the logo. Fix 1 didn't help—boot order was fine. Fix 2 failed. When I ran bootrec /rebuildbcd, it found the installation but still wouldn't boot. So I deleted the BCD and ran bcdboot C:\Windows. That did the trick—PC was up in 20 minutes.

Final Thoughts

If you've tried all three fixes and still see 0xC0000225, it's worth checking your drive health with chkdsk /f from the Command Prompt, or testing the drive on another computer. But honestly, most people stop at Fix 2 or 3 and get their system back. The key is to follow the order—don't jump to the manual rebuild if a simple boot order change might fix it.