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Upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11 results in a blue screen error: “Inaccessible Boot Device”
During the upgrade from Win10 to Win11, a blue screen appeared when restarting and entering the desktop, with the error code “Inaccessible Boot Device.” I have ensured that the BIOS is updated to the...
The "INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE" blue screen error during a Windows 10 to Windows 11 upgrade is a classic driver conflict, most commonly related to storage or security software. The new OS can't properly communicate with your drive during the critical boot phase.
The Windows 11 installer is trying to use a default driver that is incompatible with your storage controller (SATA, NVMe, or RAID controller). This is extremely common on computers with specific hardware, especially those with:
- Intel VMD (Volume Management Device) enabled (common on 10th Gen and newer Intel CPUs).
- RAID settings in the BIOS.
- Outdated storage or chipset drivers.
- Incompatible or overly aggressive security/antivirus software.