[Forum FAQ] Error 0xc0000428 when booting Windows 8 from Windows 7 BCD

Question

Scenario
To better analyze this issue, I introduce my test environment firstly.
I have installed Windows 7 and Windows 8 in separate disks (Figure 1)
Disk1 (only one partition, C drive): storing BCD
Disk2 (only one partition, D drive): storing Win 7 system files
Disk3 (only one partition, E drive): storing Win 8 system files
Figure 1.
Then I performed the steps below to boot Windows 8:
Step 1: Boot the computer from Operation System installation media, then I formatted Disk1 to NTFS and activated it via Diskpart Command-Line Utility. You can use the commands
below in order to achieve that (Figure 2):
List volume
Select volume x
Format fs=ntfs quick
Active  
Figure 2.
Step 2: I copied the boot files from Windows 7 disk via BCDboot command below:
Bcdboot d:\windows /s c:                               
Step 3: I edited the BCD file to add an entry for Windows 8 using the command below:
Bcdedit /store c:\boot\bcd /create /application osloader
Steps 4: Since the command above will create a GUID of a new boot object for Windows 8, we can use the following command to represent the GUID:
Bcdedit /store c:\boot\bcd /set {GUID} device partition=E:
Bcdedit /store c:\boot\bcd /set {GUID} osdevice partition=E:
Bcdedit /store c:\boot\bcd /set {GUID} description “win8”
Bcdedit /store c:\boot\bcd /set {GUID} path \windows\system32\winload.exe
Bcdedit /store c:\boot\bcd /set {GUID} systemroot \windows
Bcdedit /store c:\boot\bcd /displayorder {GUID} /addlast
Steps 5: I checked the BCD files by running bcdedit command. (Figure 3)
Figure 3.
Symptom
When I rebooted the computer and selected Windows 8 Operating System to boot, then I encountered the following error message (Figure 4):
File: \windows\system32\winload.exe
Status: 0xc0000428
Info: Windows cannot verify the digital signature for this file
Figure 4.
Cause
This issue is due to the bootmgr file, we cannot use the bootmgr file of Windows 7 to find the Windows 8 Operating System files.
Solution
According to my scenario, I just need to replace the bootmgr file with the bootmgr file residing in the root directory of Windows 8 Operating System.
If you want to replace it via the command prompt, it is necessary to un-hide the hidden file in the root directory of C and E drive before coping the file. You can use the
commands below to do that:
attrib c:\bootmgr -h -s
attrib e:\bootmgr -h -s
Copy e:\bootmgr c:\bootmgr /y
More information:
A Description of the Diskpart Command-Line Utility
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300415
BCDboot Command-Line Options
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/library/hh824874.aspx
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Answer 1

Cause
This issue is due to the bootmgr file, we cannot use the bootmgr file of Windows 7 to find the Windows 8 Operating System files.
The Windows 7 bootmgr can indeed boot Windows 8.
This is on a BIOS system 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVO5aeaKeeE
This is on a UEFI system 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3-K6Fyobz0
The Windows 8 bootmgr partially loads Windows 8 before offering the boot menu.  By choosing Windows 7, the system must do a reboot.  Using the Windows 7 bootmgr, no reboot is required.
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