Inaccessible Boot Device After Windows Update (RAID Mode)

Hello everyone,

I recently ran into a serious issue with my Windows 11 installation after performing a Windows update. My system originally had Windows installed on an SSD with RAID mode enabled. After the update finished installing and the PC restarted, I encountered a BSOD with the error:

"INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE"

Click to expand...

Here's a summary of what I've tried so far:

1. Automatic Startup Repair: Tried multiple times through Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE); it did not solve the issue.
2. SFC & CHKDSK Scans:
   • Ran sfc /scannow from WinRE; it found no integrity violations.
   • Ran chkdsk /f /r; completed successfully, found no significant issues.
3. DISM Commands:
   • Tried dism /image:C:\ /cleanup-image /restorehealth, and it completed successfully.
4. RAID/AHCI Mode Switch:
   • Initially installed Windows on RAID mode. I tried switching BIOS settings to AHCI mode, but that made no difference (same inaccessible boot device issue persisted).
   • Reverted BIOS back to RAID mode to match original setup; the problem remains unchanged.
5. Rebuilt EFI and BCD:
   • Recreated EFI partition manually using diskpart and bcdboot. The operations completed successfully, and BIOS/UEFI detected the Windows Boot Manager correctly afterward.

Important observation:

• Each time I boot into WinRE, my SSD isn't visible until I manually load the RAID driver again (drvload). This suggests some issue with the RAID driver integration after the update.

I'm currently stuck at this stage, where Windows Boot Manager is recognized by BIOS, but the system still crashes during boot, resulting in error code 0x00001 after restarting. My primary concern remains to get my system operational again without data loss.

Specs and relevant info:

• OS: Windows 11
• Installation Mode: UEFI with RAID
• Storage: SSD

Any insights or further troubleshooting recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

I once had a mis-encounter with AHCI/RAID and a Win10 install, had 2 internal drives attached and missed the setting in the BIOS. Later removed one drive [D:] and broke the booting, had to reinstall with only one drive attached. Changed the BIOS to AHCI only, haven't been able to recommend having 2 drives until after Windows is up and running on only 1 drive since.
RAID = Redundant Array of Inexpensive/Independant Drives

In theory, I see no reason why you could not boot WinRE or WinPE (with the appropriate driver) and use DISM to inject the RAID driver into the offline Windows installation. I'd have to determine the exact syntax.

One thing caught me unaware with a new Notebook shortly after Version 24H2 came out was the automatic encryption of the drive during setup, Home edition and no key given nor asked for, can affect some things when having issues. One was couldn't access the drive contents when booted to a Linux LiveUSB drive.

Okay, to inject a driver into your offline installation, do this:

Boot from WinPE or WinRE media. A standard Windows installation disk is perfect for this. Just stop at the first static screen.

Press SHIFT + F10 to open a command prompt.

Run diskpart, issue a "list vol" command to determine what drive letter your Windows partition has while booted from this disk, then exit diskpart.

Use this command to install your driver(s).

Replace C:\ with your actual Windows partition as you determined from diskpart.
Replace D:\RAID_Driver with the path to your unpacked driver files.

dism /Image:C:\ /Add-Driver /Driver:\RAID_Driver /Recurse

IMPORTANT: I have not tried this. If you want a test subject to try this, let me know. I have plenty of test systems that I can use. I just don't use RAID so I can test this with some other driver.

Feel free to let me know if you want me to test it.

I have tried this and still same error

Hopefully others have better ideas, but here is what my thinking is:

1) Make a disk image backup by booting from the rescue disk for your chosen imaging software.

2) Boot from a Windows 11 UFD and perform an in-place upgrade while preserving all data. You will want to load the RAID driver during this process.

That's about all I can think to do right now other than a reinstall from scratch, then retrieve any important data from the backup (you can usually mount these backups to a drive letter to get access to the data).

If you are using a hardware RAID setup. When you boot the computer, you have the option to press a key sequence to enter the RAID Control Panel/Menu before Windows loads.
Here you can view the RAID array. What type of Array is it? (ie) RAID 0 (striped set? )RAID 1 (Mirror set) RAID 5 etc?
In the RAID Control Panel, it will tell you the health of the Array. You can manage the array and replace any drive and if it is any array except RAID 0, you can rebuild the array after replacing any failed drives.

The name of the error says it all: INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE is a Blue Screen of Death stop code that says the boot loader cannot access (or find) a Windows boot device. If you get this error, it means the Windows boot loader tried to read the boot device and failed.

I think it has nothing do with RAID setup to prove this access your Windows 11 partition if you can that means RAID is still working.

To access File Explorer open Notepad from Command Prompt by executing notepad.exe command and from Notepad click File --> Open.

In this video guide, i'm going to talk about the Windows stop code - Inaccessible Boot Device error and the solutions for it.