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Lenovo T440 Boot Error: Bad System Config, HDD Detection Failure, and BCD Corruption

Dave Salvatore 0 Reputation points
2025-07-13T02:29:17.28+00:00

I was using my Lenovo ThinkPad T440 when it suddenly crashed and showed a blue screen with the message "Bad System Config Info." I followed some steps online and created a Windows 10 installation USB using the Media Creation Tool to try and repair the PC.

When I booted from the USB, there was no option to reset the PC, only Advanced Options. None of those worked — Startup Repair failed, and it couldn’t remove previous updates either.

Since something similar happened the day before (and the system randomly came back to normal after turning it on and off a few times), I kept restarting the laptop, hoping it would fix itself again. But this time, it showed a new error:

Detection Error on HDD0 (Main HDD)

I kept trying, but eventually this message appeared:

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.

File: \Boot\BCD

Status: 0xc0000098

Info: The Boot Configuration Data file doesn’t contain valid information for an operating system.

Now I can’t boot into Windows, reset the PC, or install anything. I would really appreciate help figuring out how to fix this and get the system working again. I also tried what Q&A Assist suggested, the fixboot prompt was denied.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures
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  1. Ramesh Srinivasan 555 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-07-13T03:21:41.22+00:00

    Hi Dave,

    The BCD error 0xc0000098 can generally be resolved by rebuilding it, but in this case, there appears to be a problem with disk drive. The error "2100 - Detection error on HDD0 (Main HDD)" denotes a hardware issue.

    Please see page 45 of the Lenovo manual.

    https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/t440_hmm_en.pdf

    It states:

    Detection error on HDD0 (Main HDD)

    1. Reseat the hard disk drive.
    2. Replace the main hard disk drive.
    3. Replace the system board.

    Note: While this is not a Microsoft website, it is the official site of Lenovo.

    We can try rebuilding the boot files anyway.

    Boot into Windows RE using the USB setup disk. In the WinRE Command Prompt, run these commands:

    diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
list part
list vol
exit

    Take a photo of the output screen using your phone and share the image(s) here. Don't quit WinRE yet.

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