How to boot Windows from Clover UEFI shell

Question

How to boot Windows from Clover UEFI shell.

I don't have access to anything but it. When I normally boot it gives

error : unknown file system
entering rescue mode
grub rescue>_

May be that's because, I deleted a Linux partition.

I had an USB with Clover on it. Now I can access the HDD with the Clover shell. Clover is not showing any boot entries.

Is there any way to boot Windows through it?

Solution

If you have installed Windows in UEFI mode, you can call the windows loader loader directly typing FS0:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi Enter into the EFI shell. If this isn't found try FS0:\EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI (case doesn't matter).

If you don't find either on volume FS0: then you can try looking for it on other filesystems until you find the one which contains the EFI partition with the Microsoft loader.

Volumes are in the format FS0:, FS1:, FS2:, FS3: etc. As the commands cd and ls work in EFI shell (see EFI SHELL COMMANDS - quick reference) to see what is on a volume type:

• FS1: Enter do change to volume FS1: (note the :)
• ls Enter to list files and directories in root of the filesystem
• cd EFI Enter to change to directory EFI
• ls Enter to list files and directories in EFI directory

When you find your bootloader you run it by just typing the name (including the .efi suffix) into the shell prompt.

---

If you have legacy BIOS installation then Clover will not boot it. You could download rEFInd-flashdrive an put this on a USB key as described in its documentation. If you then boot that it should be able to automatically detect and boot legacy Windows installations.

Comments

[MrVajid]

FS0:\EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI seems to have worked. But after I press enter it returns to the clover main menu. And when I press enter again the screen goes black.

[MrVajid]

I mean the first command returned 'is not recognised as an internal or external command, operable program, or script file' but the second one didn't show any such error. but it returned back to main menu. Then the screen goes black after I press enter again.

[MrVajid]

m.imgur.com/a/zJYOeJr. That's a link to a video showing what's happening.

[lx07]

From your video it looks like FS0:\EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI is loading clover boot loader. Can you check with FS0: cd EFI ls if there is a "Microsoft" directory and if so what is in it.

[MrVajid]

No, there is no 'Microsoft' directory in FS0:\EFI. There are just 'BOOT' and 'CLOVER' Directories in it. Here's the link to the photo imgur.com/a/pLxUDSS

[user1686]

@MrVajid: Then FS0: is your USB stick, and you probably should be looking at FS1: or FS2: instead?

[MrVajid]

@user1686 I checked all volumes and found winload.efi in FS4. But when I run it, it give "Command error status: unsupported" Here's a pic imgur.com/a/QWn5Sd1 and maybe that's because I have windows 10 installed on legacy BIOS.

[lx07]

@MrVajid - Clover will not boot legacy BIOS. You could try downloading rEFInd - see updated answer.

[MrVajid]

@lx07 Thanks for the update. And is there any way to flash it to my android phone without rooting it and use it as a usb. (Because i don't have a mobile to pendrive OTG and can't get it now due to lockdown. And rooting redmi phones without PC is near impossible)