A guide to using the BCDedit.exe in Windows Vista 5308

Edit the Windows Vista Boot Menu Options - BCDEDIT



Click start>All Programs>Accessories>Right Click on Command Prompt and select Run As Administrator



Then type BCDedit.exe



Introduction



In Windows Vista, the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store contains boot



configuration parameters which control how the operating system is started in



the Windows Vista and Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn" operating systems.



These were found in the boot.ini file in previous versions of Microsoft



Windows. To edit the Windows Vista Boot Menu Options, the Boot Configuration



Data Editor - BCDEDIT is used.



The Bcdedit.exe command-line tool can be used to add, delete and edit entries



in the BCD store which contains objects. Each object is identified by a GUID



(Globally Unique Identifier). Every drive or partition on the system will have



its own GUID and could be {legacy} (to describe a drive or partition on which a



pre-Windows Vista operating system), {default} (to describe the drive or



partition containing the current default operating system), or {current} (to



describe the current drive or partition one is booted to), or for example



{c34b751a-ff09-11d9-9e6e-0030482375e7} (to describe another drive or partition



on which an operating system has been installed).



Bcdedit.exe is located in the \Windows\System32 directory of the Windows Vista



partition and can be accessed only from the Commad Prompt which is found on



the Windows Vista start menu at Start>All Programs>Accessories





Command-line Help



bcdedit /? Shows all commands one is able to use



bcdedit.exe /? CREATESTORE Shows detailed information for the command



CREATESTORE or any other command available in bcdedit as shown when running



bcdedit /? followed by the particular command more information is required for.



bcdedit or bcdedit /enum all Shows the current structure of your boot



configuration data.

The GUID tags {xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx} of all Windows



installations present on your computer will be displayed.





Create a Backup



It is strongly recommended that one creates a backup of the BCD store before



making any changes to it.



bcdedit /export "D:\BCD Backup\Bcd Backup" Creates a backup to a pre-created



folder, in this case “BCD Backup” on drive D:



bcdedit /import "D:\BCD Backup\Bcd Backup" Restores the backup previously



created





Making Changes to the Boot Configuration Data



bcdedit /set {legacy} Description "Windows XP Professional SP2" Changes the



text description of the “Legacy” OS line in the boot menu. The quotation marks



must be included in the command



bcdedit /set {current} description "Windows Vista Build 5308 x86" Changes the



text of the boot menu line for the Vista or non-Vista installation one is



currently booted to, from the default "Microsoft Windows" or other description



to that shown in the quotation marks



bcdedit /set {5189b25c-5558-4bf2-bca4-289b11bd29e2} description “Windows Vista



Build 5270 x64” Changes the text of the boot menu line for any other Vista



installation. One must use the GUID for that particular installation as shown



when one runs the bcdedit or bcdedit /enum all command



bcdedit /default {current} Sets the current Windows installation one is booted



to as the default Windows boot OS



bcdedit /default {5189b25c-5558-4bf2-bca4-289b11bd29e2} Sets the referenced



Windows OS as the {default} Windows boot OS



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Nice, I'll make this pinned.

small problem, maybe you guys can help, i had to move my vista install to another drive, so i cloned it but it messed up the bcd. SO, i go into the editor, change the drive letter and it didn't work, now i want to specify the disk instead of drive letter. how would i do that in bcdedit? and how do i know which one is which?