⏻ Boot & Startup Errors
INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE — How to fix on Windows 11
INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE almost always means a recent Windows update broke the storage driver, or you changed the SATA/NVMe mode in BIOS. The fix order below handles both.
- Time
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Applies to
- Windows 11, Windows 10
- Updated
- May 25, 2026
Error message
Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. Stop code: INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE
Symptoms
- ▸Blue screen with INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE immediately after the Windows logo
- ▸Boot loop alternating with Automatic Repair
- ▸Started after a Windows update or BIOS change
Likely causes
- ▸Recent Windows update installed a buggy storage driver
- ▸BIOS storage mode changed (AHCI ↔ RAID ↔ Intel VMD)
- ▸Failing boot SSD/NVMe
- ▸Corrupted BCD store
How to fix it — step by step
- 01
Check BIOS storage mode
Enter BIOS. The storage mode must match what Windows was installed with — usually AHCI (or Intel VMD on 12th-gen+ Intel laptops). Switching modes breaks Windows boot.
- 02
Boot into Recovery and try Startup Repair first
Force 3 power-cycles during boot to trigger Automatic Repair → Advanced options → Startup Repair.
- 03
Uninstall the latest update from Recovery
Recovery → Advanced options → Uninstall updates → Uninstall latest quality update.
- 04
Rebuild the BCD from Command Prompt in Recovery
Same as BOOTMGR is missing:
bootrec /fixmbr bootrec /fixboot bootrec /scanos bootrec /rebuildbcd - 05
Check disk for bad sectors
From Recovery's Command Prompt:
chkdsk C: /f /r