KnowledgeBase → VeraCrypt UEFI recovery after Windows 10 automatic updates
Sometimes Windows 10's automatic update service can cause your Operating System to fail to boot, and leading to the following error on a mostly-blue graphical screen:
Automatic repair couldn't repair your PC
In the vast majority of cases, the solution to this problem is to override the UEFI boot file selection in the BIOS, which can usually be accomplished by following these steps (note that each BIOS presents things differently, so you may have to explore your BIOS settings to find the boot device options):
- In the Windows 10 "repair" prompts, find and select "Advanced options"
- Select "Troubleshoot"
- Select "Advanced options"
- Select "UEFI Firmware Settings" (you may need to repeat the previous two steps again to get this option to appear, depending on which updates for Windows 10 are installed)
- Select "Restart"
- Select "Boot device options" (or similarly-worded option) when your BIOS menu appears as part of the pre-boot sequence
- Select "Boot from EFI file"
- Select the option that reads "System." and/or begins with "[Pc iRoot(0x0)/Pci..." (on most systems, this will be the only option)
- Select "EFI"
- Select "<VeraCrypt>"
- Select "DcsBoot.efi" (this is the final option, which should initiate a reboot automatically)
Your system should now boot normally, prompting you for the VeraCrypt pre-boot password (and optional PIN) as usual.
Note: The "Repair" function you encountered is not the same as the "Recover from improper shutdown" option, so you most likely won't be prompted to run ChkDsk after entering your VeryCrypt pre-boot password.
If this doesn't work, you very likely still have the option of mounting the disk from a separate computer (also running VeryCrypt) "without pre-boot authentication" (and using the same pre-boot password) which will provide you with access to the encrypted data.