Error 0xc0000034

[p3ntyne]

Hey,

Recently I had an issue with my Surface Pro 3 not booting up. I resolved this by reinstalling with the a bootable USB containing the recovery software from Microsoft. A day later, it wouldn't boot up again, but rather than staying at a black screen, it results in a blue screen-esque error message titled 'Recovery'. It it error 0xc0000034 and it says to press the windows key to get into the UEFI or use a recovery image - unfortunately neither of those options work although I can turn it off and boot manually into the UEFI. (BTW, that means I can't boot manually into a USB device either, even with safe boot off.)

Is there anything I can do or should I get it replaced?

Thanks.

 

[GreyFox7]

Try this ... copied from Here
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You will need one additional item to implement this fix: A recovery USB key for Windows 8/8.1. Creating this key is easy, on any other Windows 8/8.1 device, run the 'Create a Recovery Drive' option from the start menu. Just plug in a viable (8GB or larger) USB flash drive and run the program.

Once you have your recovery drive, it's time to move to the damaged Windows 8 machine. The first step is to plug in your USB flash drive and make sure the device is turned off. Next, hold the volume down button while you turn the Surface on. Once you see the 'Surface' text on screen, you can release the volume down button.

This process should load the recovery tools. The tool we need is the command prompt, so to get there, choose 'Troubleshoot'. Next choose 'Advanced options'. The Advanced options page has the button for bringing up your command prompt.

Once you get to the command prompt, most other repair instructions I found fail to work. However, the first thing you should do is run "bootrec /rebuildbcd".

When this command completes, you will see a line in the output that says "Total identified Windows installations:". Then it will say 0 or 1. If it says 1, then your BCD was missing the boot information and you can enter 'Y' for Yes. Once that completes, close the command prompt and exit recovery tools. Reboot the surface and you should come right up.

However, when it says '0' for the number of installations, this means that your BCD is intact enough that it recognizes the only install you have and can't find any more installs to add to the BCD. And here is where all other instructions for this problem went off the rails for me. Everyone, including Microsoft, wanted you to backup your current BCD then attrib the file c:\boot\bcd to make it editable, then remove it. Well, that folder and file weren't on my Surface, making the instructions useless. However, the backup of the BCD worked, meaning the BCD was there and the 'bcdedit' executable could find it. I worked out the specifics and I was able to repair the BCD using the following commands:

1. "bcdedit /enum" will list the entries in the store. What I found for the MS Surface was two entries, one for the device, and one {default} entry for Windows.
2. "bcdedit /export c:\bcdbackup" will create a copy of the BCD in the root of C.
3. "bcdedit /delete {default}" deletes the default Windows entry.
4. "bootrec /rebuildbcd" will then run again, this time it will find 1 entry because we removed the entry for our copy of Windows.
5. Choose Y for Yes to add the installation to the boot list.

Exit your recovery tools and shut down the Surface. Then, remove the key and reboot.
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It sounds like it would work...

 

[p3ntyne]

Thanks although I have already tried to perform that process, hence my question here. I have used a recovery USB before but my issue is that it won't even boot from there.

The Surface logo flashes, as it should when booting from the USB, but it leads to the same blue screen that booting normally does rather than the recovery options

 

[GreyFox7]

Thanks although I have already tried to perform that process, hence my question here. I have used a recovery USB before but my issue is that it won't even boot from there.

The Surface logo flashes, as it should when booting from the USB, but it leads to the same blue screen that booting normally does rather than the recovery options

Have you tested or successfully booted from this USB before??? There can be problems creating the USB which results in the same issue. Also I know with going from Win 10 back to Win 8.1 you have to Delete the Win 10 Partition using the Advanced Recovery Options... you may need to whack something as well.

I tried creating a Recovery USB from the download multiple times and finally switched to a different USB stick before I got it to work.

 

[p3ntyne]

Have you tested or successfully booted from this USB before??? There can be problems creating the USB which results in the same issue. Also I know with going from Win 10 back to Win 8.1 you have to Delete the Win 10 Partition using the Advanced Recovery Options... you may need to whack something as well.

I tried creating a Recovery USB from the download multiple times and finally switched to a different USB stick before I got it to work.

Interestingly, I used the recovery USB just two days ago. I don't have the large download anymore so I removed the file off the USB, reformatted the USB, and dragged it back in and the result is still the same.

I'll see if I can find another to try anyway.

 

[GreyFox7]

have you tired the Two Button Shutdown?
Step 1: press and hold the power button on your Surface for 30 seconds.
Step 2: After Surface turns off, press and hold the volume-up button and the power button on your Surface at the same time for at least 15 seconds, and then release both.
The screen may flash the Surface logo, but continue holding the buttons down for at least 15 seconds.
Step 3: After you release the buttons, wait 10 seconds.
Step 4: Press and release the power button to turn your Surface back on.

You might also try disabling Secure Boot... your options are pretty limited in UEFI

OR Download the ISO to USB to try booting from that into Recovery but honestly I don't know why it would be any different though.

 

[p3ntyne]

have you tired the Two Button Shutdown?
Step 1: press and hold the power button on your Surface for 30 seconds.
Step 2: After Surface turns off, press and hold the volume-up button and the power button on your Surface at the same time for at least 15 seconds, and then release both.
The screen may flash the Surface logo, but continue holding the buttons down for at least 15 seconds.
Step 3: After you release the buttons, wait 10 seconds.
Step 4: Press and release the power button to turn your Surface back on.

You might also try disabling Secure Boot... your options are pretty limited in UEFI

OR Download the ISO to USB to try booting from that into Recovery but honestly I don't know why it would be any different though.

I just tried that with the same result as before. I also found another USB key to try, but once again, it didn't work. Disabling safe boot didn't alter the device but did alter my vision after foolishly rebooting in a dark room.

I might just have to take it to the store... I was hoping to avoid that but it looks as if it'll be neccessary.

 

[JoshB]

I saw a reference to maybe try turning off Fast Start up stopping the error from happening.

Go to Control panel...Power Options, and select Choose What the Power Buttons Do on the left.
Then select Change Settings That Are Currently Unavailable near the top center of screen...
Lower down on the window, uncheck Fast Startup.

 

[p3ntyne]

I saw a reference to maybe try turning off Fast Start up stopping the error from happening.

Go to Control panel...Power Options, and select Choose What the Power Buttons Do on the left.
Then select Change Settings That Are Currently Unavailable near the top center of screen...
Lower down on the window, uncheck Fast Startup.

Unfortunately, there's no control panel on an error screen. I can't boot into Windows at all.

 

[JoshB]

Ah sorry about that, missed that part. Saw a lot of people that get this error code actually still have some access to Windows.

 

[p3ntyne]

Well, for anyone wondering, I took the Surface back to the store today and I was immediately given a replacement and the new one is perfect.

 

[bluemoongreg]

Sorry it came to that, but happy to hear they took care of it in the best possible way!