I moved files to another location from folder “boot>efi” . Window or ubuntu not starting

Question

I had window 10 on compaq laptop then I install ubuntu 12.04. After some days following message was showing in ubuntu 12.04.

then in ubuntu 12.04 I moved file from "\boot\efi" to another location. Moved files may be(I am not remembering clearly) "1. HP, 2. Microsoft, 3. Third I am not remembering". after that I reboot laptop then following message was showing " GNU GRUB version 1.99-21ubuntu3.19

Minimal BASH-like editing is supported. For the first word, TAB lists all possible command completions. Anywhere else TAB lists possible device or file completion.

grub>_"

If I go 'boot devices option' by f9 key then selecting 'boot from EFI File>NO Volume Label>EFI>Boot>bkpbootx64.efi' Following was showing [message][2]

then I make bootable usb with ubuntu 16.04 and ran boot repair commands i.e.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y boot-repair && boot-repair

then following message was shown

"GPT detected. please create a BIOS-Boot partition(>1MB, unformatted file system, bios_grub flag). This can be performed via tools such as Gparted. Then try again. Alternatively, you can retry after activating the [Separate/boot/efi partition:] option."

what to do

Answer 1

You will have to move those files back somehow. The easiest way would probably be to use a working computer to make a LiveUSB and boot from that. If you choose Try Ubuntu, you'll be able to move files back to the EFI partition (which you will have to mount using Gparted or the terminal).

EFI is not something you want to mess with. It may be annoying that it keeps telling you you have low space in it, but you need to either ignore that or research which files you need or how to increase space. Don't just go moving random files. That will never end well.

Answer 2

Zacharee1 and oldfred are giving you useful advice. I'd just like to chime in with some links to additional EFI information that may help you understand what's going wrong, and therefore to avoid this sort of problem in the future:

• Adam Williamson's blog entry on how EFI works -- This page describes the theory behind EFI-mode booting.
• A question and answers on the differences between BIOS and EFI booting on Superuser.com -- This provides the basics of the preceding, but is more concise.
• My page on installing Linux on EFI systems -- This page is a more practical introduction to EFI-mode booting than Adam Williamson's blog.
• My page on the CSM -- This page covers the CSM, including when it's useful and when it's not.
• The Ubuntu community wiki entry on UEFI -- This page is a bit disjointed, but is the most Ubuntu-specific introduction to EFI and its issues.

Some of these pages are geared toward helping you install Ubuntu or Linux, which of course you've already done; but they nonetheless provide useful background information.

I'd like to reiterate something that Zacharee1 wrote:

Don't just go moving random files. That will never end well.

Most of the files on an Ubuntu installation exist for a reason, and exist in a particular location for a reason. Moving (or worse, deleting) them without understanding what they are is never a good idea. Sometimes you can get away with it just because the files relate to programs you don't use, but moving random files is like playing Russian Roulette. You played and lost. Worse, you seem to have moved files related to Windows' boot loader, which has of course affected Windows.

You may be able to find your files with the following command:

sudo find /mount/point -name "bootmgfw\.efi"

Change /mount/point to wherever you've mounted the partition to which you moved the files in question. This command will find the bootmgfw.efi file, which is Windows' main boot loader file. (Note that the command is likely to take several minutes to finish searching the partition.) Once you've found the file, you can copy its original directory tree back to where it belongs. (That file should be EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi on the ESP.)

Windows creates a smallish ESP to begin with -- sometimes as small as 100 MiB, on older EFI-enabled versions of Windows. This is still normally plenty big enough to hold all the files needed on the ESP, so something was probably storing stuff there inappropriately. (OTOH, maybe it got filled up with log files or screen shots from a boot loader.) Identifying what's chewing up the space will take some investigation and understanding of what the files on the ESP are -- the preceding referenced pages will help with that.