Solved Reset Windows 10 10240 = INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE

[mocsharp]

I have been running Windows 10 preview for months and had it updated to build 10240 a few days ago. Today, after I "reset" it to clean, it booted up with blue screen showing INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.

I have tried to boot from USB but it just won't do it:
* Disabled APM
* Disabled Secure Boot
* Formatted 16gb USB with fat32 and copied surface pro BMR 10.3.5
* Rufus with Windows 10 x64 ISO
* Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool with windows 10 and window 8.1 iso.
* No SDXC card inserted

any help would be much appreciated.

 

[lukadriel]

Hello, I too have the exact same problem and microsoft doesn't seem to know how to help if you find any answer can you tell me ? thanks in advance.

 

[malberttoo]

I have been running Windows 10 preview for months and had it updated to build 10240 a few days ago. Today, after I "reset" it to clean, it booted up with blue screen showing INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.

I have tried to boot from USB but it just won't do it:
* Disabled APM
* Disabled Secure Boot
* Formatted 16gb USB with fat32 and copied surface pro BMR 10.3.5
* Rufus with Windows 10 x64 ISO
* Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool with windows 10 and window 8.1 iso.
* No SDXC card inserted

any help would be much appreciated.

Is it a used USB thumb drive? Not saying this will fix your problem, but I hosed my SP3 months and finally just ended up downloading the SP3 bootable image from Microsoft. I couldn't make it work until I ran out and bought a new thumb drive.

Just a thought.

 

[mocsharp]

So, I just tried another USB stick, 8GB, not new, and it worked!!! thanks!

Weird that the 16GB USB stick came with MS Build didn't work.

 

[leeshor]

Great, marked solved.

 

[ruaknight]

Can you tell me how did you do it? I got the same problem and did the same thing with no result.

 

[malberttoo]

Can you tell me how did you do it? I got the same problem and did the same thing with no result.

You tried using a brand new USB thumb drive?

 

[ruaknight]

Not yet, It's just when I use the recovery image I can get into the troubleshot screen but all the options turned into window 10 so that 8.1 recovery image should not work right? And then the win 10 ISO on the other hand give me a black screen with some sort of Operating System not found kind of error. So I just wonder what did he do with the new usb that those error went away?

 

[hughlle]

I had this problem last night on my S3. I did a reset but kept files with my fingers crossed. No luck.

Spent the evening downloading the OS to a usb stick from Microsoft, but didn't have time to do it. Woke up this morning and turned it on and it just booted up, told me it was undoing changes, and booted into the former version of windows and told me there was an error. Still want to see this fixed so I can reset and not have to manually add all the apps and settings and such from my SP3

 

[cloddeke24]

This is not solved for me. I can not get windows to boot from a USB. I have tried both my old 8.1 SD recovery card I made and a brand new USB 3.0 drive with 10 that I downloaded from Microsoft on it, but I can't even get to a screen that asks me where I want to boot from. I for one miss the BIOS.

 

[GreyFox7]

This is not solved for me. I can not get windows to boot from a USB. I have tried both my old 8.1 SD recovery card I made and a brand new USB 3.0 drive with 10 that I downloaded from Microsoft on it, but I can't even get to a screen that asks me where I want to boot from. I for one miss the BIOS.

There is no screen...
The USB must be Fat32 and Active.
If you build the USB with the Media Creation Tool it should work with secure boot enabled.
You don't have to modify any UEFI/BIOS settings .
Do NOT have an SD card installed when trying to boot from USB.

Use this procedure to prepare the USB ... all partitions will be removed.
Genuine Windows Command Prompt
Diskpart
List disks
0 = ssd
1= usb
# Your actual results may vary, pay attention and use the disk # associated with your USB.
# Clean below will remove all partitions including hidden partitions.

Select disk 1
Clean
create partition primary
select partition 1
format fs=fat32 quick
active
exit

Create the USB directly in the Media Creation Tool and Verify it.

When that is finished... boot it.

On the Surface Press and hold the "volume down" rocker then keep holding it
Press the power button firmly, keep holding the volume rocker down.
When "Surface" is displayed on the screen hold a few more seconds just for good measure then you can release the volume rocker.

If you have an indicator light on the USB you should have seen plenty of activity on it.

I have seen this be finicky with what USB it will work with... if you tried a new one try a different brand or model... The W10 USB image is ~3GB so a 4GB or larger should work (I made one using a 4GB USB). ALWAYS "CLEAN" them... you don't know what vendors put on these things or where it has been.

There's always a possibility the USB port or controller has a problem or there's some other problem but it's pretty rare. Good luck.

 

[cloddeke24]

There is no screen...
The USB must be Fat32 and Active.
If you build the USB with the Media Creation Tool it should work with secure boot enabled.
You don't have to modify any UEFI/BIOS settings .
Do NOT have an SD card installed when trying to boot from USB.

Use this procedure to prepare the USB ... all partitions will be removed.
Genuine Windows Command Prompt
Diskpart
List disks
0 = ssd
1= usb
# Your actual results may vary, pay attention and use the disk # associated with your USB.
# Clean below will remove all partitions including hidden partitions.

Select disk 1
Clean
create partition primary
select partition 1
format fs=fat32 quick
active
exit

Create the USB directly in the Media Creation Tool and Verify it.

When that is finished... boot it.

On the Surface Press and hold the "volume down" rocker then keep holding it
Press the power button firmly, keep holding the volume rocker down.
When "Surface" is displayed on the screen hold a few more seconds just for good measure then you can release the volume rocker.

If you have an indicator light on the USB you should have seen plenty of activity on it.

I have seen this be finicky with what USB it will work with... if you tried a new one try a different brand or model... The W10 USB image is ~3GB so a 4GB or larger should work (I made one using a 4GB USB). ALWAYS "CLEAN" them... you don't know what vendors put on these things or where it has been.

There's always a possibility the USB port or controller has a problem or there's some other problem but it's pretty rare. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply! I don't know what you meant by verify but it was bold so I assume is was important. How do I verify the ISO? I did everything else and it didn't work.

I appreciate the help, thanks!