Cannot boot or repair Windows 7 x64; error 0xc0000225

Hi. I desperately need help recovering Windows 7. I am receiving the following error:

0xc0000225

I have an Asus Zenbook ultrabook without a optical drive. However, I have attempted to create a recovery USB stick a dozen or so times with both recovery and Win7 ISOs I downloaded. It loads but every single time I receive a message that it is 'not compatible' with my version of Windows. My windows license says I have 'Windows 7 Home Prem OA for Asus'. My only thought is that 'for Asus' is the problem here, but I really have no idea.

I can also load a copy of Ubuntu I have on another USB stick, but I am not educated enough to understand how I can fix this problem from within Linux either, without step by step instructions.

I'd really appreciate any help or advice. Thanks in advance. :)

Use the latest official ISO for your same bit version and licensed OS from Step 5 in Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot. You need to have SP1 installed, however, for it to be compatible.

With that error you need to first Mark Partition Active Win7 or it's 100mb System Reserved partition (preferred if you have it) then run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times.

If this fails work through the other steps from the top. Many of the boot disks required are on Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) from a USB flash drive | USB Pen Drive Linux

Hey Greg, thanks for the reply!

It seems like I am stuck at the first thing, getting the latest official ISO of the same version. I know that my system is Win 7 x64 Home Prem, so I tried every version of the ISO I could find. However, each time I get an error that it's the wrong version.

My only thought why it's not working is that the windows certificate says "for Asus", otherwise is it possible that the problem is because it's international, as I bought my laptop in Sweden. I really have no idea, that's just amateur speculation.

I don't know if I have SP1 installed, since I can't load Windows to check? I tried both ISO versions however.

I am going through your other links to see what I might be able to try, barring being able to boot to the recovery CD (USB). Thanks!

It seems if you had SP1 then you would know it as it requires install via Windows Updates and is quite large. So maybe you will need to find a pre-SP1 installer or Repair CD to try the Repairs.

Just to clarify: You are getting this error once you burn to DVD using the tool in Step 2 of tutorial (so you know it's a good burn) and boot into Repair My Computer?

Meanwhile you can use the Partition Wizard on UBCD to complete Step 8 in the tutorial. I would disinfect first using bootable AV on PW stick as it may not rebuild the MBR or repair unless any infection is cleaned up first.

If these other steps in Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot don't help then you can rescue your files and move on to run Factory Recovery or Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which is always better than getting a new computer since they come loaded with bloatware which throttles Win7 anyway.

gregrocker said:

If this fails work through the other steps from the top. Many of the boot disks required are on Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) from a USB flash drive | USB Pen Drive Linux

This works, but I have no idea what to do with it.

I can also boot to Ubuntu on my USB stick. I don't have the experience to know how to proceed w/o simple instructions, though.

I would instead use Hiren's BootCD From USB Flash Drive (Pen Drive) » www.hiren.info

A list of its bootable tools is here: Hiren's BootCD 15.1 - All in one Bootable CD » www.hiren.info

I would run Malwarebytes to disinfect.

Then Partition Wizard to make sure Win7 partition or it's 100mb System Reserved partition are marked Active and then Rebuild MBR: How to Set Active/Inactive partition -Partition Wizard Video Help.
Partition Wizard Rebuild MBR Video Help.

If necessary you can copy your files out to external, DVD or another HD the mini-XP Explorer. It will put you in an XP OS so you can browse to your files and drag them.

You can test your RAM with memtest86, and your HD with the maker's HD Diagnostics scan which includes a list from almost every maker.

The DiskGenius can rebuild the partition table which sometimes works as a last resort.

I would continue to try to boot into installer Repair console or Repair CD. You can burn a Repair CD on another PC of the same bit-version which should work. System Repair Disc - Create

It's a new laptop, is it possible it has SP1 pre-installed? In any case I tried ISOs with and without SP1 because they were not so hard to find. I receive the same error no matter which one I choose, that it's not the correct version. I even tried the same versions from different download sources, just in case it was a bad file. No dice.

My laptop does not have an optical drive, so I am 'burning' a USB stick. It seems to work fine, I always can boot to the stick and then Windows asks me for my language and/or keyboard. On the next page it says it's the wrong version. With the full Windows CD, which I also tried, I would get the error when I'd click to make repairs rather than install.

My system is not infected, it was me who somehow screwed it up when making a new partition. So it seems like it just can't boot windows because it does not know how or where it is. I can see that everything is still there from within Linux, however.

I can't get to the recovery partition either. I would be happy with doing that, even though it's a nuisance, because it's less of a nuisance than this. However when I turn on the laptop I get the error 0xc0000225 screen. If I put something on the USB stick like Ubuntu or the Ultimate Boot CD it works fine, so if I can't get the Windows recovery CD to work, which seems doubtful, I think I need to fix the problem from within Linux or some other resource I can put on the USB.

I am gonna check out Partition Wizard now, from the instructions you linked.

Thanks again for your time and help, it is much appreciated. :)

gregrocker said:

I would instead use Hiren's BootCD From USB Flash Drive (Pen Drive) » www.hiren.info

A list of its bootable tools is here: Hiren's BootCD 15.1 - All in one Bootable CD » www.hiren.info

I would run Malwarebytes to disinfect.

Then Partition Wizard to make sure Win7 partition or it's 100mb System Reserved partition are marked Active and then Rebuild MBR: How to Set Active/Inactive partition -Partition Wizard Video Help.
Partition Wizard Rebuild MBR Video Help.

If necessary you can copy your files out to external, DVD or another HD the mini-XP Explorer. It will put you in an XP OS so you can browse to your files and drag them.

You can test your RAM with memtest86, and your HD with the maker's HD Diagnostics scan which includes a list from almost every maker.

The DiskGenius can rebuild the partition table which sometimes works as a last resort.

I would continue to try to boot into installer Repair console or Repair CD. You can burn a Repair CD on another PC of the same bit-version which should work. System Repair Disc - Create

Ok, I will follow these steps and hope something works.

I am happy that I have some things to try.

I took a picture of what Partition Wizard says with my mobile, I think it's easier than explaining how everything is… especially because I don't quite understand it all.

Thanks again for your help, or anyone else who has any ideas.

You have an EFI BIOS which means you must boot into it to repair the same way as to reinstall, shown here: UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Forums