IMPORTANT!!! How to go around GRUB bootloader entry and boot directly into Windows

[Dondre Johnson]

Installed on HP 19-2011 All-in-one PC, 64-bit AMD Radeon graphics with Windows 10

Help! I had CloudReady version 52 from NeverWare (neverware.com) booting on my USB flash drive, while having Remix OS 3.0.205 on my PC's hard drive. Somehow, CloudReady interfered with Remix OS, including the GRUB bootloader. It claims to have an unknown error booting into Windows:

error: unknown error

/EndEntire

file path: /ACPI((a0341d0,0)/PCI(0,11)/Sata(0,ffff,0)

/HD(6,719a2000,1000000,154ab6fe8277474e,2,2)/File(\EFI\RemixOS)

/File(bootx64.efi)/EndEntire

I tried editing the command to boot Windows. Continuing  to boot led to this error:

/EndEntire

file path: /ACPI((a0341d0,0)/PCI(0,11)/Sata(0,ffff,0)

/HD(6,719a2000,1000000,154ab6fe8277474e,2,2)/File(\EFI\RemixOS)

/File(bootx64.efi)/EndEntire

Failed to open \EFI\RemixOS*bootx64.efi\grubx64.efi - Not Found

Failed to load image \EFI\RemixOS*bootx64.efi\grubx64.efi: Not Found

Failed to open \EFI\RemixOS*bootx64.efi\MokManager.efi - Not Found

Failed to load image \EFI\RemixOS*bootx64.efi\MokManager.efi: Not Found

error: unknown error

(What is MokManager BTW?)

I could only access Remix OS out of the GRUB bootloader. That's a big problem.

I used CloudReady's File Explorer to delete all the Remix OS components, hoping it would also delete the GRUB bootloader. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

After deleting these folders and everything in it:

boot folder

efi folder

.disk folder

isolinux folder

main RemixOS folder (except data image and uninstallation app),

the GRUB bootloader was still there with the same error! I even used Secure Boot in the BIOS. Surprisingly, GRUB was STILL there!

1: How can I go around the GRUB bootloader and go directly into Windows? 

2: Or delete the real GRUB bootload file?

3: Or use a GRUB command to disable the bootloader?

 I'm stuck and I need answers ASAP!

Any idea helps! Thanks!

[hypot...@gmail.com]

That looks like an EFI Shell to me; nothing to do with grub. Bring up your issue with CloudReady - looks like you/they have wiped the EFI/ESP partition and you'll have to rebuilt it - hopefully Windows wasn't also removed.

You should be able to check while in the [b]BIOS/UEFI[/b] for other boot entries - this one as said seems to be EFI shell.

[Dondre Johnson]

The only boot entry is leading to Windows. Using the BIOS still brought up the GRUB. How would I be able to recreate the EFI shell when I'm in CloudReady?

[hypot...@gmail.com]

As you ant to restore a Windows EFI, you`d need to use Windows. Either via Windows Recovery Mode - if you can boot into that - or with a Windows USB.

If you post the contents of the EFI partition - I`ll have a look to see if its just a missing .efi file

[Dondre Johnson]

How can I boot into Windows recovery mode when GRUB still blocks it?

I deleted the following folders and files, along with all other Remix OS folders and files, but GRUB still stood in it's place.

efi

     boot

          TRANS.TBL

          bootia32.efi

          bootx64.efi

          exfat32.mod

          exfat64.mod

          grubx64.efi

          ntfs32.mod

          ntfs64.mod

     RemixOS

          TRANS.TBL

          bootia32.efi

          bootx64.efi (this is what GRUB asked for, but said not found)

          exfat32.mod

          exfat64.mod

          grub.cfg

          grub32.cfg

          grub64.cfg

          grubx64.efi

          ntfs32.mod

          ntfs64.mod

[hypot...@gmail.com]

Again, the screenshot on #1 isn`t grub its an efi_shell and it can`t directly load a grub.efi hence the error.

I`ll post the contents of my efi partition. To see if you can see a missing file

[hypot...@gmail.com]

Efi partition tree here: http://pastebin.com/vRAVxDG3

From that you you be able to see if Cloudready removed the Microsoft folder/efis

[Dondre Johnson]

A few questions:

1: Is X: the Windows drive? (mine is C:)

2: This is a long list, so I'm a bit lost. To begin looking for the files, where would I go in the Windows drive?

[hypot...@gmail.com]

No X is the EFI partition - it's the first partition on the drive - and its a 100MB fat32 partition and is by default hidden.

Not sure what OS you are able to run but you should be able to manually mount it; just treat it like any other fat32 partition.

What you'd need to look at is more the Microsoft folder and the efis - you can ignore the grub folders [they are only there due to installing grub to EFI]

[Dondre Johnson]

By EFI partition, do you mean a recovery drive? I do not see an EFI partition to mount. In my recovery drive, that's where I see the Microsoft folder.

[Evan Langlois]

Is your machine BIOS or EFI?

If it's EFI, most EFI BIOS systems allow you to interrupt the boot process and select an EFI file to boot.  All you need to do is tell it the EFI file you want to boot.  And grub isn't the problem, its the rest of your system blocking grub from doing its job.  Grub is just another EFI file like windows.

Linux has some tools that will let you change the EFI boot order and add/delete entries.  You can grab almost any Linux boot disk to change your EFI boot order if your BIOS won't.

[Dondre Johnson]

I don't know how to do that, but I fixed my problem a month ago: I installed the Windows recovery tool to my flash drive and reset my computer. That got Windows to work again.