Rebuilding BCD store in inaccessible Windows Vista to recover lost data

The BCD (Boot Configuration Data) store in Windows Vista is used to start the Windows system. It contains all the essential system startup options to boot the system. However, when the BCD store gets corrupt because of any miscellaneous reasons, then you would not be able to start the system. In such cases, you should use appropriate measures to rectify the problem. In case, this is also not possible then you should use a third-party partition recovery software to recover all the data from the inaccessible system.

Let us assume a scenario in which you are trying to start Windows Vista but fail to do so. The following error message is displayed in this regard:

“File: \Boot\BCD
Status: 0xc0000034
Info: The Windows Boot Configuration Data file is missing required information”

Cause:

This problem could have happened because of the following reasons:

The Boot\BCD file on the active partition is either damaged, corrupt, or missing.
The Windows Boot Manager (Bootmgr) entry is not present in the BCD store.

Resolution:

To resolve this problem, you should perform the following methods:

Use Startup Repair option: To do this, you should perform the following steps:
Use the Windows Vista installation disc and start the system.
Press any key when prompted to do so.
After selecting the preferences, click Next.
Click 'Repair your computer'.
Select the operating system that you want to repair, and click Next.
Click 'Startup Repair' in the 'System Recovery Options' dialog box.
Restart the system.
Use Bootrec.exe tool: To use the Bootrec.exe tool, perform the following steps:
Use the Windows Vista installation disc and start the system.
Press any key when prompted to do so.
After selecting the preferences, click Next.
Click 'Repair your computer'.
Select the operating system that you want to repair, and click Next.
Click 'Command Prompt' in the 'System Recovery Options' dialog box.
Type 'Bootrec /RebuildBcd' and press Enter. If the command runs successfully, then add the entry to the BCD store.
Restart the system.

If you are still getting that error even after using these methods, then you should reinstall the operating system after backing up the data. You should use a third-party partition recovery software to get all the trapped data from the system. These data recovery tools recover partitions without inflicting any damages to the existing files.

The best partition recovery tool that recovers data from FAT, NTFS, and exFAT file systems is Windows Data Recovery. Recovering more than 185 different file types from various storage devices, this Windows data recovery software is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, XP, 2000, and NT4(SP6).