Using BCDEDIT to change and modify Windows Boot Entries

Booting is the so called “bootstrapping” that processes and starts the OS (operating system) when the user turns on the computer. A boot sequence is the initial group of operations that the computer operates.

In Windows Server, 7 and Vista the bootloader file contains the necessary information is located in [root directory]\bootmgr. For Windows XP, the file is \ntldr.

Bcdedit is a powerful tool that Windows Vista, 7 and Server 2008 uses to manage the boot entry option value in the Windows boot configuration data store (BCD).

Easiest way to edit the boot loader entry names

Open your Command Interpreter > Win + R > and type “cmd.exe” > and use the following command

bcdedit /set {current} description "any name"

Restart your computer to see the results…

For Windows XP users, you can read this old blog article that I wrote.

Note: It is important to backup the bcd entries first:

bcdedit /export c:\savebcdentry

To undo the changes:

bcdedit /import c:\savebcdentry

How to delete entry from the list

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001] Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved. C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit Windows Boot Manager -------------------- identifier              {bootmgr} device                  partition=C: description             Windows Boot Manager locale                  en-US inherit                 {globalsettings} default                 {current} resumeobject            {e6317784-92a2-11df-a5ba-ab1b23d1ff42} displayorder            {current} toolsdisplayorder       {memdiag} timeout                 30 Windows Boot Loader ------------------- identifier              {current} device                  partition=C: path                    \Windows\system32\winload.exe description             Microsoft Windows Vista locale                  en-US inherit                 {bootloadersettings} recoverysequence        {572bcd55-ffa7-11d9-aae0-0007e994107d} recoveryenabled         Yes osdevice                partition=C: systemroot              \Windows resumeobject            {e6317784-92a2-11df-a5ba-ab1b23d1ff42} nx                      OptIn Windows Boot Loader ------------------- identifier              {a1d5593a-5b7-11e0-9e3c-d0a2d26a53be} device                  partition=E: path                    \Windows\system32\winload.exe description             dummy OS locale                  en-US inherit                 {bootloadersettings} recoverysequence        {572bcd55-ffa7-11d9-aae0-0007e994107d} recoveryenabled         Yes osdevice                partition=C: systemroot              \Windows resumeobject            {e6317784-92a2-11df-a5ba-ab1b23d1ff42} nx                      OptIn C:\Windows\system32>

First, you need to know the identifier value by launching “bcdedit” as shown above and after that, you can now delete the entry “dummy OS” by using the command:

bcdedit /delete {a1d3593a-5b7-11e0-9e3c-d0a2d26a53be}

For more detailed information from Microsoft, read here..

http://WindowsForUs.com?bcdeditms3

Thanks for reading the guide!