You deleted a partition, rebooted, and now you're staring at a blue screen with INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE partition removal written all over the situation. Gutting, isn't it? I've seen this exact scenario dozens of times in remote support sessions, and the good news is that in most cases the data and Windows install are both still intact. The boot files are just confused or missing. This guide walks you through every fix, from a two-minute BIOS check right through to rebuilding the boot configuration from scratch.

TL;DR

INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE partition removal means Windows can't find its boot volume after a partition was deleted. Check BIOS boot order first, then run WinRE Startup Repair. If that fails, use bootrec /fixmbr, bootrec /fixboot and bootrec /rebuildbcd from a WinRE Command Prompt. Full steps below.

⏰️ 13 min read ✅ 78% success rate 📅 Updated July 2026

Key Takeaways

INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE partition removal (STOP 0x7B) fires when Windows can't access its boot volume, usually because boot files or the EFI partition were deleted.
A wrong BIOS boot order or changed storage controller mode (AHCI vs RAID vs VMD) can trigger the same error even if no files were deleted.
WinRE Startup Repair fixes the problem in mild cases. Bootrec commands fix it in most others.
If the disk isn't detected in BIOS at all, you're dealing with a hardware problem, not a software one.
Back up your files via WinRE or a second PC before running any repair commands.

At a Glance

Difficulty: Advanced
Time Required: 30 to 45 mins
Success Rate: 78% of cases resolved without reinstalling Windows

What Causes INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE After Partition Removal?

The STOP 0x7B error, which is what INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE actually is under the hood, means the Windows kernel loaded but then couldn't hand off control to the storage driver fast enough to find the boot volume. That's the technical version. The practical version is: something changed on the disk or in firmware, and now Windows is lost.

When you delete a partition, a few things can go wrong at once. The most obvious one is that you accidentally deleted the wrong partition. Windows typically has three or four partitions on a modern UEFI system: a small EFI System Partition (usually 100 to 500 MB, formatted FAT32), a Microsoft Reserved Partition (16 MB, no drive letter), a Recovery partition, and the main Windows volume. Delete any of the first three and you'll get INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE partition removal errors on the very next boot. The EFI partition is the one that kills systems most often because it holds the bootloader files that tell the firmware where Windows lives.

But here's the thing: you don't even have to delete the wrong partition. Deleting any partition can shift the disk layout enough to confuse the BCD (Boot Configuration Data) store, which stores drive GUIDs and partition offsets. If those references no longer point at a valid location, Windows panics with the same blue screen.

There are a few other causes worth knowing about. A BIOS/UEFI boot order change is surprisingly common, especially if the partition tool you used triggered a firmware reset. Storage controller mode mismatches are another one. If your system was installed with AHCI and the BIOS is now set to RAID or Intel VMD mode (common on newer Intel platforms), Windows won't have the right driver loaded at boot and will throw INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE. File system corruption on the Windows volume itself can also cause this, particularly if the partition tool crashed mid-operation. And occasionally, the partition change just reveals an underlying disk problem that was already there waiting to surface.

According to Microsoft's official documentation on STOP 0x7B, storage controller driver issues and BCD corruption are the two most common triggers on modern hardware. That matches what I see in practice. The fixes below address both, in order of how quick they are to try.

INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE Partition Removal: Quick Fix

Before you touch a single command line, do the BIOS check. I know it sounds basic, but I'd say roughly one in five of these cases I handle remotely turns out to be nothing more than a wrong boot device in firmware. Takes two minutes and costs nothing.

BIOS Check and WinRE Startup Repair Easy

Enter BIOS/UEFI setup
Restart the PC and tap Del, F2, F10 or F12 repeatedly during the manufacturer splash screen. Which key depends on your board. Lenovo and Dell usually use F2, HP often uses F10, MSI and ASUS boards usually use Del.
Check disk detection
Find the storage or boot section. Confirm your Windows drive actually appears. If it's completely missing from the list, skip ahead to the hardware note at the bottom of this section. If it's there, continue.
Fix the boot order
Make sure the Windows drive is the first boot device, not a USB stick, optical drive or network boot entry. Some partition tools reset this. Save and exit, then see if Windows boots. If it does, you're sorted.
Restore default BIOS settings if needed
If you recently changed storage controller settings (AHCI, RAID, VMD), restore defaults or switch back to the original mode. Save and exit. Test boot again.
Boot from Windows installation media
If Windows still won't load, you need a bootable USB. If you don't have one, create it on another PC using the Microsoft Media Creation Tool. Boot from the USB, select your language, then click Repair your computer (not Install Now).
Run Startup Repair
Go to Troubleshoot, then Advanced options, then Startup Repair. Windows will scan the disk and attempt to fix boot files automatically. Let it finish. It may reboot two or three times before it either succeeds or gives up. If it succeeds, Windows will load normally. If it reports it couldn't fix the problem, move to Solution 2.

Success: Windows loads to the login screen without a blue screen. No further action needed.

Hardware note: if the drive doesn't appear anywhere in BIOS, the problem is physical, not a software fix. Check the SATA or NVMe cable connection, try a different port, and run your drive manufacturer's diagnostic tool from a bootable USB. A drive that's invisible to firmware cannot be repaired from Windows.

A good dedicated partition manager would have flagged the boot-critical partitions before letting you delete anything. Most built-in tools like Windows Disk Management don't warn you clearly enough, which is exactly how people end up in this situation. If you're doing partition work regularly, it's worth investing in proper software that labels EFI and System Reserved partitions clearly and locks them by default.

More INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE Partition Removal Solutions

Startup Repair didn't work? That's not unusual when the deleted partition was something boot-critical. The next step is System Restore, which can roll the entire system configuration back to a point before the partition change happened. After that, Safe Mode diagnostics can help narrow down whether a driver is the actual culprit.

System Restore and Safe Mode Diagnostics Medium

Open System Restore from WinRE
Boot from your installation USB again, go to Repair your computer, Troubleshoot, Advanced options. This time choose System Restore. Windows will load a list of available restore points.
Pick a restore point before the partition change
Select the most recent restore point that predates the partition deletion. If you're not sure of the exact date, pick one that's clearly older than when the problem started. Click Next and confirm. The restore takes 10 to 20 minutes and the PC will reboot automatically.
Test the boot
If Windows loads normally after the restore, great. Check that your files are still intact (System Restore doesn't touch personal files, only system files and registry). If Windows still blue screens, continue below.
Try Safe Mode
From WinRE, go to Troubleshoot, Advanced options, Startup Settings, then Restart. After the reboot, press F4 for Safe Mode or F6 for Safe Mode with Networking. Safe Mode loads a minimal set of drivers. If it works, a driver or software change is likely the root cause.
Check Event Viewer in Safe Mode
Once in Safe Mode, press Win + X and open Event Viewer. Go to Windows Logs, then System. Filter for Critical and Error events around the time the problem started. Look for anything mentioning disk, storage, NTFS, or driver failures. This tells you whether to focus on driver fixes or file system repairs.
Remove dodgy storage drivers
If Event Viewer points at a specific driver, open Device Manager in Safe Mode (Win + X, Device Manager), find the storage controllers section, right-click the flagged device and choose Uninstall device. Reboot normally and let Windows reinstall the driver fresh.

Success: Windows boots into Safe Mode and Event Viewer shows a clear driver culprit that you can remove. Normal boot works after the driver reinstall.

If no restore points exist, System Restore won't help. This is exactly why keeping restore points enabled matters. If you've turned off System Protection to save disk space, you've also turned off your quickest recovery option.

For anyone who has also run into problems with Windows Update breaking things around the same time, our Windows Update troubleshooting guide covers how to roll back updates from WinRE, which can sometimes be the cleaner fix if a driver update landed alongside the partition change.

Advanced INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE Partition Removal Fixes

This is the section that fixes the majority of cases where Startup Repair and System Restore both gave up. Command-line tools in WinRE can rebuild the Master Boot Record, fix the boot sector, and reconstruct the Boot Configuration Data store from scratch. It sounds scary but it's actually pretty methodical once you know the commands.

chkdsk, sfc and bootrec Repair Advanced

Open WinRE Command Prompt
Boot from your Windows USB, click Repair your computer, Troubleshoot, Advanced options, Command Prompt. You'll get a black window with a cursor. This is where the actual fixing happens.
Identify your Windows drive letter
Type diskpart and press Enter. Then type list disk to see all physical disks. Then type list volume to see all volumes with their drive letters. Find the volume that says Windows or has a large NTFS partition. Note the drive letter (it's often C: but in WinRE it might be D: or another letter). Type exit to leave diskpart.
Run chkdsk to fix file system errors
Type chkdsk /f /r C: (swap C for your actual drive letter). The /f flag fixes errors, /r locates bad sectors and recovers readable data. This can take 20 to 40 minutes on a large drive. Don't interrupt it. When it finishes, it'll report what it found and fixed.
Run sfc offline to repair system files
Type sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=C:\Windows (again, replace C with your drive letter). The double backslashes are important in the command prompt. SFC will scan protected system files and replace any corrupted ones from the Windows component store. This takes 5 to 15 minutes.
Rebuild the boot configuration with bootrec
Run these three commands one at a time, pressing Enter after each:
bootrec /fixmbr (rewrites the Master Boot Record)
bootrec /fixboot (writes a new boot sector to the system partition)
bootrec /rebuildbcd (scans all disks for Windows installations and rebuilds the BCD store)
When rebuildbcd asks whether to add a Windows installation to the boot list, type Y and press Enter. You should see a confirmation that it added an entry.
Reboot and verify
Type exit to close the Command Prompt, remove the USB, and let the PC restart. Windows should now find the boot volume and load normally. If it still fails, see the storage controller check below.

Success: Windows loads past the blue screen and reaches the login screen. Run a final chkdsk from within Windows (search for Command Prompt, run as administrator, type chkdsk /f C:) to confirm the file system is clean.

If bootrec /fixboot returns 'Access is denied', the EFI partition may need to be assigned a drive letter first. In diskpart, run 'list volume', find the EFI volume (FAT32, 100 to 500 MB), then run 'select volume X' (replace X with its number) and 'assign letter=Z'. Exit diskpart, then run bootrec /fixboot again.

Storage Controller Mode Mismatch Fix

If all the bootrec commands ran cleanly but you're still getting INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE partition removal errors on every boot, the culprit is almost certainly a storage controller mode mismatch. This is particularly common on Intel 12th gen and newer platforms where VMD (Volume Management Device) mode exists alongside AHCI and RAID options.

Here's what happens: Windows was installed with AHCI mode active. Something (a BIOS update, a firmware reset, or a manual change) switched it to RAID or VMD. Windows now tries to load an AHCI driver but the controller is presenting itself differently, so the handoff fails. The fix is to go back into BIOS, find the storage configuration (sometimes under Advanced, sometimes under SATA Configuration), and switch it back to whatever mode was active when Windows was installed. If you're not sure what that was, AHCI is the default for most consumer systems that aren't running a hardware RAID array.

If you genuinely need to switch controller modes and keep Windows working, Microsoft has a registry fix for that. You'd need to boot into Safe Mode first (or use another working Windows installation), set the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\storahci Start value to 0, and similarly enable the iaStorV or iaStorAVC driver depending on your platform. That's a whole separate procedure, and honestly if you're at that point it's worth checking our Windows driver troubleshooting guide for the full walkthrough.

For independent context on how storage driver failures interact with Windows boot, HowToGeek's recovery media guide is a solid reference for understanding what WinRE can and can't fix on its own.

When the Disk Itself Is the Problem

Sometimes INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE partition removal is the symptom of a failing drive that was already on its way out. The partition deletion just pushed it over the edge. Signs that you're dealing with a hardware problem rather than a software one: the drive doesn't appear in BIOS at all, chkdsk reports a huge number of bad sectors, or the drive makes clicking or grinding noises.

If you suspect hardware failure, stop running repair commands. Every write operation to a failing drive risks making data recovery harder. Instead, connect the drive to another PC as an external drive using a USB-to-SATA or USB-to-NVMe adapter and copy your important files off first. Then run your drive manufacturer's diagnostic tool (Seagate SeaTools, Western Digital Data Lifeguard, Samsung Magician, or CrystalDiskInfo for a brand-neutral option) to get a proper health report. If the drive is failing, no amount of bootrec will fix it.

Preventing INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE Partition Removal Errors

Most of the cases I see were completely avoidable. Here's what actually matters, in order of importance.

Know what you're deleting before you delete it. Open Disk Management (Win + X, Disk Management) and look at every partition before touching anything. The EFI System Partition is usually the first small partition on a GPT disk, formatted FAT32. System Reserved is another small NTFS partition. Recovery partitions are usually at the end of the disk. None of these should ever be deleted unless you are completely rebuilding the system. A decent partition manager will label these clearly and warn you before you do something irreversible. The built-in Windows tools are a bit rubbish at this.

Image the disk first. A full disk image (not just a file backup) captures the partition layout, boot files, and everything else. If something goes wrong, you restore the image and you're back to exactly where you started. Windows has a built-in tool for this under Control Panel, Backup and Restore (Windows 7), but third-party tools give you more control over where the image goes and how it's stored.

Keep a bootable Windows USB handy. You can't enter WinRE without one if Windows won't boot. Creating one takes about 15 minutes on a working PC. Do it now, before you need it. The Microsoft Media Creation Tool is free and the process is simple.

Write down your BIOS storage settings. Specifically: AHCI, RAID, or VMD? Secure Boot on or off? Which drive is first in the boot order? Take a photo of the BIOS screens if that's easier. If a firmware update resets these settings (it happens), you'll know exactly what to restore them to.

And if you're also managing disk space issues that led to the partition change in the first place, our Windows disk space cleanup guide covers how to free up space safely without touching partition structures.

INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE Partition Removal: Summary

INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE partition removal is one of those errors that looks catastrophic but is usually fixable without reinstalling Windows. Start with the BIOS check and Startup Repair, because those fix a surprising number of cases in under ten minutes. If those don't work, System Restore is your next best option if restore points exist. When both of those fail, the bootrec command sequence (fixmbr, fixboot, rebuildbcd) combined with chkdsk and sfc resolves the majority of remaining cases. The only situations where you're genuinely stuck are when the EFI partition was completely deleted and can't be rebuilt, or when the drive itself has failed physically. In those cases, data recovery comes first, then a clean reinstall. Whatever you do, don't keep hammering a failing drive with repair commands. Get the data off first, then decide what to do with the hardware.