[SOLVED] MSCONFIG problem

billp · Jan 6, 2023

Either I'm lazy, or I like Win7, or who knows. But I'm squeezing all the life I can out of my good reliable AlienWare Win7 box.

I recently bought a game and it wasn't working, so I contacted their support and they suggested that I use MSCONFIG to do a selective startup,
disabling non-essential services and seeing if something conflicts. Simple enough.

However, I cannot make any changes in MSCONFIG, I get this:

System Configuration cannot save the original boot configuration for later restoration. Boot changes will be reverted.
The system cannot find the path specified.

<sigh> Would have been nice if they simply DISPLAYED the path that was problematic, wouldn't it?

None of the startup changes I made will stick. If I close and re-open MSCONFIG, they're back to where they were.

I didn't find anything yet searching the web. I tried doing a SubInACL permissions reset to see if that's the issue, but it didn't help.
I am running as admin. I don't know how long my MSCONFIG has been bad - it's nothing I have touched in ages.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

xilolee · Jan 6, 2023

Hi!

What antivirus are you using?
Are you using an EFI system?

Let's try to find your bcd file (if it's not an EFI system):
- open a simple command prompt
- launch this command:

Code:

dir %systemdrive%\BCD /a /b /s | findstr /i /v /c:"servicing" /c:"winsxs"

- report its result.

billp · Jan 6, 2023

Well, this is gonna get worse before it gets better...

The dir dump has a ton of:
The directory name C:\Users\All Users\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\... is too long.

I have seen this before on another machine, but I don't recall what the fix is (or if there is one).

If I ignore several pages of that stuff, we also get this:

C:\Program Files (x86)\AlienRespawn\Components\Archiver\BOOTDISK\FAT32\EFI\MICROSOFT\BOOT\bcd
C:\Windows\Boot\DVD\EFI\BCD
C:\Windows\Boot\DVD\PCAT\BCD

billp · Jan 6, 2023

Also, the boot mode on this machine is "UEFI:Windows Boot Manager"

billp · Jan 10, 2023

Is there any follow-up action I can take with respect to the BCD files?

xilolee · Jan 10, 2023

The following operations are needed to get information about your bcd file.

Click windows start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click the command prompt, click run as administrator.
It opens a black window (the command prompt or command line). Then follow these instructions:

Read More:

Example:

Read More:

Code:

C:\>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.19041.964

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: BART

DISKPART> list disk

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online          232 GB  1024 KB        *
  Disk 1    Online          465 GB      0 B        *

DISKPART> select disk 0

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list partition

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
  Partition 1    Recovery           400 MB  1024 KB
  Partition 2    System             299 MB   401 MB
  Partition 3    Reserved           128 MB   701 MB
  Partition 4    Primary             99 GB   829 MB
  Partition 5    Recovery           531 MB   100 GB
  Partition 6    Primary            132 GB   100 GB

DISKPART> list volume

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 0     J                       DVD-ROM         0 B  No Media
  Volume 1     C                NTFS   Partition     99 GB  Healthy    Boot
  Volume 2     D   DATA         NTFS   Partition    132 GB  Healthy    Pagefile
  Volume 3         RECOVERY     NTFS   Partition    400 MB  Healthy    Hidden
  Volume 4                      FAT32  Partition    299 MB  Healthy    System
  Volume 5                      NTFS   Partition    531 MB  Healthy    Hidden
  Volume 6     E   DATA         NTFS   Partition     75 GB  Healthy    Pagefile
  Volume 7     F   Data         NTFS   Partition    139 GB  Healthy    Pagefile
  Volume 8     G   DATA         NTFS   Partition    250 GB  Healthy    Pagefile

DISKPART> select volume 4

Volume 4 is the selected volume.

DISKPART> assign letter= Z

DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

DISKPART> detail disk

Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB
Disk ID: {D313364C-5675-4A63-9E92-E51D4FB95F63}
Type   : SATA
Status : Online
Path   : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Location Path : PCIROOT(0)#PCI(1100)#ATA(C00T00L00)
Current Read-only State : No
Read-only  : No
Boot Disk  : Yes
Pagefile Disk  : Yes
Hibernation File Disk  : No
Crashdump Disk  : Yes
Clustered Disk  : No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 1     C                NTFS   Partition     99 GB  Healthy    Boot
  Volume 2     D   DATA         NTFS   Partition    132 GB  Healthy    Pagefile
  Volume 3         RECOVERY     NTFS   Partition    400 MB  Healthy    Hidden
* Volume 4     Z                FAT32  Partition    299 MB  Healthy    System
  Volume 5                      NTFS   Partition    531 MB  Healthy    Hidden

DISKPART> detail partition

Partition 2
Type    : c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b
Hidden  : Yes
Required: Yes
Attrib  : 0X0000000000000001
Offset in Bytes: 420478976

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 4     Z                FAT32  Partition    299 MB  Healthy    System

DISKPART> detail volume

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
* Disk 0    Online          232 GB  1024 KB        *

Offline                : No

DISKPART> exit

Leaving DiskPart...

C:\>dir z:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd /q && echo. && attrib z:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd
 Volume in drive Z has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is AEBA-DEE0

 Directory of z:\efi\microsoft\boot

10/01/2023  00:24            53,248 \Everyone              BCD
               1 File(s)         53,248 bytes
               0 Dir(s)     285,270,016 bytes free

A                    Z:\efi\microsoft\boot\BCD

C:\>

If you want to submit a better result, you can copy/paste ALL the following commands in the command prompt, once you know the volume number of your ESP.
In the example, I already knew my ESP volume is four (4), hence I put four (4) in the command to select the volume:

Read More:

Let me know if it doesn't work.

Once you finished, you can copy/paste the following commands in the elevated command prompt to remove the ESP partition from the sight (it just removes the letter, it doesn't remove the partition).
I used again four (4) to select my ESP.
You should use YOUR ESP volume number!

Read More:

billp · Jan 10, 2023

Continued thanks for the help... here are the results from DISKPART:

C:\Users\Bill>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 6.1.7601
Copyright (C) 1999-2008 Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: BILL-PC

DISKPART> list disk

Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
Disk 0 Online 1863 GB 1024 KB *
Disk 1 Online 232 GB 0 B *

DISKPART> select disk 0

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list partition

Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 System 500 MB 1024 KB
Partition 2 OEM 40 MB 501 MB
Partition 3 Reserved 128 MB 541 MB
Partition 4 Recovery 10 GB 669 MB
Partition 5 Primary 56 GB 10 GB
Partition 6 Primary 1795 GB 67 GB

DISKPART> list volume

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
Volume 0 E DVD-ROM 0 B No Media
Volume 1 OS NTFS Partition 56 GB Healthy
Volume 2 D Data NTFS Partition 1795 GB Healthy Pagefile
Volume 3 ESP FAT32 Partition 500 MB Healthy Hidden
Volume 4 RECOVERY NTFS Partition 10 GB Healthy Hidden
Volume 5 C OS NTFS Partition 222 GB Healthy Boot
Volume 6 ESP FAT32 Partition 500 MB Healthy System
Volume 7 RECOVERY NTFS Partition 10 GB Healthy Hidden

DISKPART> select volume 3

Volume 3 is the selected volume.

DISKPART> assign letter=Z

DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

DISKPART> detail disk

TOSHIBA DT01ACA200 SCSI Disk Device
Disk ID: {3F8D2E9A-2795-45C4-A30B-D5D9FF84B6FB}
Type : SATA
Status : Online
Path : 1
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Location Path : PCIROOT(0)#ATA(C01T00L00)
Current Read-only State : No
Read-only : No
Boot Disk : No
Pagefile Disk : Yes
Hibernation File Disk : No
Crashdump Disk : Yes
Clustered Disk : No

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
Volume 1 OS NTFS Partition 56 GB Healthy
Volume 2 D Data NTFS Partition 1795 GB Healthy Pagefile
* Volume 3 Z ESP FAT32 Partition 500 MB Healthy Hidden
Volume 4 RECOVERY NTFS Partition 10 GB Healthy Hidden

DISKPART> detail partition

Partition 1
Type : c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b
Hidden : Yes
Required: No
Attrib : 0X8000000000000000
Offset in Bytes: 1048576

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
* Volume 3 Z ESP FAT32 Partition 500 MB Healthy Hidden

DISKPART> detail volume

Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
* Disk 0 Online 1863 GB 1024 KB *

Offline : No

DISKPART> exit

Leaving DiskPart...

C:\Users\Bill>dir z:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd /q && echo. && attrib z:\efi\microso
ft\boot\bcd
Volume in drive Z is ESP
Volume Serial Number is DA73-0A23

Directory of z:\efi\microsoft\boot

09/26/2020 07:02 PM 40,960 \Everyone BCD
1 File(s) 40,960 bytes
0 Dir(s) 498,421,760 bytes free

A Z:\efi\microsoft\boot\BCD

xilolee · Jan 10, 2023

Do you have two systems (two OSs) on this PC?
Or only one?
Is the second drive an SSD, with Windows and the c: partition?

Or What?

billp · Jan 10, 2023

It came with the OS on HDD.
I added an SSD and copied the OS into it.
C: (SSD) is the boot drive, D: (HDD) is the data drive, but it probably has the original boot partition on it.

xilolee · Jan 10, 2023

The previous scandisk commands show 6 partitions and 7 volumes (8 with dvd-rom).
The MS reserved one (MSR 128MB) doesn't appear in the volumes count.
Therefore there are 5 partitions and 7 volumes.
Two pair of volumes have the same size.
Hence it seems two volumes are doublets...

Could you show your disk management structure? (I.e., a screenshot)

Click the windows start, click control panel, click system and security, click administrative tools, double click computer management, click disk management.

billp · Jan 10, 2023

xilolee · Jan 10, 2023

Now, the picture shows 9 partitions, but with msr partition are 10...
Now I think Windows is a bit confused by these facts.
I certainly am confused!

To try to correct your problem, I/we could suggest you some potentially destructive commands.
For this reason, if you want to continue with me (or other people), I suggest that you take adequate precautions; you should:
- save/backup your important data.
- create a system restore.
- create a system image (check Using Macrium Free to Backup or Image your drives )
- keep the windows 7 installation disc and its license key nearby.

billp · Jan 10, 2023

Story of my life... I seem to attract problems that are new or baffling to experts.

I'm not sure I want to proceed given "potentially destructive", especially since I do not have the installation disk
(unless I'm remembering wrong, AlienWare didn't come with installation media).

First, this is an older machine (2015 or so if I recall right)
It's been a good reliable system so I've just left it alone (which is why it's still Win7)
It runs nearly all the apps & games I've thrown at it (I got it with a decent GFX card for the era) as well as being a great work machine
I was having trouble with a new game and their support team suggested a conflict, and to use MSCONFIG selective startup to see if
we can find what is causing the conflict
I do not recall if I've EVER messed around with MSCONFIG other than to request a safe boot once or twice to diagnose something minor
So I was surprised to see the issue of System Configuration cannot save the original boot configuration for later restoration.
Boot changes will be reverted. The system cannot find the path specified.
I'm prevented from making changes to MSCONFIG
However, OTHER than this, the machine is still running fine
I fear "potentially destructive" as a result of fixing MSCONFIG only for the reason of debugging this game (the risk is not worth the reward)
However, it's going to bug me that "something is not right" which I fear could bite me at some point (but it hasn't in over 8 years, so maybe
I should just ignore it)

Given all that, have we exhausted all "safe" (or "mainly safe") approaches to the "system cannot find the path specified" issue?

Thanks so much for your time... SysNative has always been the best source for technical expertise!

xilolee · Jan 11, 2023

Yes, going to modify partitions in any way is always risky.
Their sizes or their attributes...

We didn't check the other ESP: you can use the same commands, with disk 1 and volume 6.

Read More:

For the installation disc, (Windows 7 ISO) you can try to download it from Microsoft...
But they may have removed this possibility for pre-windows 10 systems (because they have reached end of life status).

billp · Jan 11, 2023

I performed the commands you suggested above; the results are posted below... however this time I got a pop-up:

I'm going to "continue without scanning" for now, but please let me know if I should try this option; I'll re-run the
DISKPART commands and hopefully it will generate the same pop-up.

The results logged are below.

DISKPART> list disk

Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
Disk 0 Online 1863 GB 1024 KB *
Disk 1 Online 232 GB 0 B *

DISKPART> select disk 1

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> select volume 6

Volume 6 is the selected volume.

DISKPART> assign letter= Z

DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

DISKPART> detail disk

Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250G SCSI Disk Device
Disk ID: {001C5889-F477-47FF-B0AB-CC593A705E8C}
Type : SATA
Status : Online
Path : 3
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Location Path : PCIROOT(0)#ATA(C03T00L00)
Current Read-only State : No
Read-only : No
Boot Disk : Yes
Pagefile Disk : No
Hibernation File Disk : No
Crashdump Disk : No
Clustered Disk : No

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
Volume 5 C OS NTFS Partition 222 GB Healthy Boot
* Volume 6 Z ESP FAT32 Partition 500 MB Healthy System
Volume 7 RECOVERY NTFS Partition 10 GB Healthy Hidden

DISKPART> detail partition

Partition 2
Type : c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b
Hidden : Yes
Required: No
Attrib : 0000000000000000
Offset in Bytes: 135266304

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
* Volume 6 Z ESP FAT32 Partition 500 MB Healthy System

DISKPART> detail volume

Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
* Disk 1 Online 232 GB 0 B *

Offline : No

DISKPART> exit

Leaving DiskPart...

c:\>dir z:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd /q && echo. && attrib z:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd
Volume in drive Z is ESP
Volume Serial Number is DA73-0A23

Directory of z:\efi\microsoft\boot

01/11/2023 02:22 AM 36,864 \Everyone BCD
1 File(s) 36,864 bytes
0 Dir(s) 499,290,112 bytes free

A Z:\efi\microsoft\boot\BCD

xilolee · Jan 11, 2023

In this case, this second ESP is already slightly damaged and your PC still works (boots); hence I would click Yes, Scan and fix!
Let's see if the problem is this one.
Restart the PC after the operation is completed.

By the way, it could be a first sign the disk has got problems.
Check later the SSD: Hard Drive (HDD) Diagnostics (Sea Tools for DOS) & SSD Test

billp · Jan 11, 2023

Unfortunately, it didn't do anything; this popped up immediately:

I left the partition mapped to drive letter Z: and tried a CHKDSK on it; nothing bad came up:

c:\>chkdsk z:
The type of the file system is FAT32.
The volume is in use by another process. Chkdsk might report errors when no corruption is present.
Volume ESP created 7/4/2015 6:02 PM
Volume Serial Number is DA73-0A23
Windows is verifying files and folders...
File and folder verification is complete.
Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.

523,247,616 bytes total disk space.
2,363,392 bytes in 10 hidden files.
126,976 bytes in 31 folders.
21,463,040 bytes in 61 files.
499,290,112 bytes available on disk.

4,096 bytes in each allocation unit.
127,746 total allocation units on disk.
121,897 allocation units available on disk.

xilolee · Jan 12, 2023

Did you restart It?
And does the previous "scan & fix" popup appear?

billp · Jan 12, 2023

No difference after a restart.

Using DISKPART, at the "assign letter" command, the "Do you want to scan & fix ESP Z:?" popup is shown,
but saying "yes" immediately brings up the popup above ("Windows was unable to complete the disk check")

xilolee · Jan 12, 2023

Then the advice is the same: check your disk and volumes without attempting a repair, unless you did a back up of your files and did a system image.

[SOLVED] MSCONFIG problem

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