Error Messages

Error 0xc00000e: "A Required Device Isn't Connected" Fix

Updated October 3, 2026 •6 min read

Windows won’t start, and instead you get a blue or black recovery screen: “Your PC/Device needs to be repaired. A required device isn’t connected or can’t be accessed. Error code: 0xc000000e.” People often search for it as error 0xc00000e (with one zero fewer), but it’s the same error. Sometimes the screen also names a file, such as \Windows\system32\winload.efi or \Boot\BCD. The message sounds like hardware failure, and sometimes it is, but just as often Windows’ boot configuration is pointing at a disk or partition it can’t find. Either way, your files are usually still there.

What error 0xc00000e means

When a PC starts, the Windows Boot Manager reads the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) to find which partition holds Windows and which loader to run. Error 0xc000000e means the boot manager went looking for that device and couldn’t reach it. Typical reasons:

A loose or failing drive. The SATA or M.2 connection has worked loose, a cable has gone bad, or the drive is failing and not responding in time.
BCD pointing at the wrong place. After cloning to a new SSD, adding or removing a drive, or resizing partitions, the BCD can still reference a partition that no longer matches.
Corrupted BCD or boot files, often after a failed update or power loss.
Boot order or storage mode changes. A BIOS reset that changes the boot order, or a switch between AHCI and RAID/RST mode (see AHCI vs RAID), can leave Windows unable to see its own disk.

How to fix error 0xc00000e

Start with the hardware and settings checks. They don’t write anything to your drive.

1. Remove extra devices and check connections

Disconnect USB drives, external disks, card readers and docks. On a desktop, power off, unplug the power cord, and reseat the SATA data and power cables at both ends, or the M.2 SSD in its slot. If you recently added or removed a drive, try returning to the original configuration.

2. Confirm the drive is detected in BIOS

Enter firmware setup (commonly Del, F2 or F10 at power-on, depending on the maker). Check that the drive holding Windows is listed.

Listed: move on to the boot order.
Not listed: stop here and read “When the drive is the real problem” below.

3. Check boot order and storage mode

Put Windows Boot Manager first. If the SATA mode (AHCI, RAID, or Intel RST/VMD) was recently changed, perhaps by a BIOS reset or update, set it back to what it was. Switching modes on an existing Windows install is a classic cause of this error. Save and exit.

4. Run Startup Repair

Boot from a Windows installation USB made on another PC. Choose your language, then Repair your computer → Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Repair. Let it finish; it can take a while. Startup Repair rewrites boot settings, not your documents.

5. Rebuild the BCD from Command Prompt

If Startup Repair fails, go back to Advanced options → Command Prompt. First find the partition that holds Windows. In the recovery environment it often isn’t C::

dir C:\
dir D:\

Once you know the letter, you can view the current boot entries without changing anything:

bcdedit /enum

If the device or osdevice lines read unknown or point to the wrong partition, the BCD is the problem. On most modern (UEFI) PCs, the cleanest fix is to recreate the boot files from the Windows folder:

bcdboot D:\Windows

(Use the letter you found.) On older BIOS/MBR systems, the bootrec tools are the traditional route:

bootrec /scanos
bootrec /rebuildbcd

bootrec /fixboot sometimes returns “Access is denied” on UEFI systems. That’s a known quirk, and bcdboot generally does the job instead. Restart and remove the USB drive when done.

Copy your files off before reinstalling

If the boot repairs fail, don’t jump to “Reset this PC” or a clean install. Both can erase data. Instead:

Pull the drive and connect it to another computer with a USB-to-SATA or USB-to-NVMe adapter. On a desktop, see how to remove a hard drive from a computer.
If the drive is BitLocker-encrypted, have the recovery key ready: find your BitLocker recovery key.
Don’t initialize or format the drive if the other PC asks you to.

Once your files are safe, a reinstall is a fine last resort.

When the drive is the real problem

0xc000000e is sometimes the first visible sign of a dying drive, especially if it appears intermittently. Stop running repairs if:

The drive vanishes from BIOS or appears only some of the time.
A hard drive clicks, buzzes or grinds.
The PC freezes for long periods when it does start, or Windows reports disk errors.
The drive shows up on another computer but copying is extremely slow or fails.

Repeated boot attempts and repair tools put stress on a drive with weak heads or bad sectors. See hard drive not showing up in BIOS and the warning signs of hard drive failure. If you see this error alongside a blue-screen stop code, our INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE guide covers a closely related problem.

The bottom line

Error 0xc00000e (properly 0xc000000e) means Windows’ boot manager can’t reach the device it needs to start. Check connections, confirm the drive appears in BIOS, restore the boot order and SATA mode, then run Startup Repair and rebuild the boot files with bcdboot. Copy your files off before any reset or reinstall, and stop if the drive is disappearing or making noise.

If the drive isn’t detected or won’t read reliably, our desktop and PC data recovery service can help. ClearQuote recovers single devices for one flat $1,200 price with free prepaid shipping, and you pay nothing unless we recover your data.