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BCDBoot is a command-line tool used to configure the boot files on a PC or device to run the Windows operating system. You can use the tool in the following scenarios:
- Add boot files to a PC after applying a new Windows image. In a typical image-based Windows deployment, use BCDBoot to set up the firmware and system partition to boot to your image. To learn more, see Capture and Apply Windows, System, and Recovery Partitions.
- Set up the PC to boot to a virtual hard disk (VHD) file that includes a Windows image. To learn more, see Boot to VHD (Native Boot): Add a Virtual Hard Disk to the Boot Menu.
- Repair the system partition. If the system partition has been corrupted, you can use BCDBoot to recreate the system partition files by using new copies of these files from the Windows partition.
- Set up or repair the boot menu on a dual-boot PC. If you've installed more than one copy of Windows on a PC, you can use BCDBoot to add or repair the boot menu.
File Locations
In Windows and Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) | %WINDIR%System32BCDBoot.exe |
In the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK): | C:Program Files (x86)Windows Kits10Assessment and Deployment KitDeployment Toolsamd64BCDBootBCDBoot.exe |
Supported operating systems
BCDBoot can copy boot environment files from images of Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2008.
How It Works
To configure the system partition, BCDBoot copies a small set of boot-environment files from the installed Windows image to the system partition.
BCDBoot can create a Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store on the system partition using the latest version of the Windows files:
- BCDBoot creates a new BCD store and initialize the BCD boot-environment files on the system partition, including the Windows Boot Manager, using the %WINDIR%System32ConfigBCD-Template file.
- New in Windows 10: During an upgrade, BCDBoot preserves any other existing boot entries, such as debugsettings, when creating the new store. Use the /c option to ignore the old settings and start fresh with a new BCD store.
- If there is already a boot entry for this Windows partition, by default, BCDBoot erases the old boot entry and its values. Use the /m option to retain the values from an existing boot entry when you update the system files.
- By default, BCDBoot moves the boot entry for the selected Windows partition to the top of the Windows Boot Manager boot order. Use the /d option to preserve the existing boot order.
On UEFI PCs, BCDBoot can update the firmware entries in the device’s NVRAM:
- BCDBoot adds a firmware entry in the NVRAM to point to the Windows Boot Manager. By default, this entry is placed as the first item in the boot list. Use the /p option to preserve the existing UEFI boot order. Use /addlast to add it to the bottom of the boot order list.
Command-Line Options
The following command-line options are available for BCDBoot.exe.
BCDBOOT <source> [/l <locale>] [/s <volume-letter> [/f <firmware type>]] [/v] [/m [{OS Loader GUID}]] [/addlast or /p] [/d] [/c]
San Boot Windows Server 2016
Option | Description |
---|---|
<source> | Required. Specifies the location of the Windows directory to use as the source for copying boot-environment files. The following example initializes the system partition by using BCD files from the C:Windows folder: |
/l <locale> | Optional. Specifies the locale. The default is US English ( en-us ).The following example sets the default BCD locale to Japanese: |
/s <volume letter> | Optional. Specifies the volume letter of the system partition. This option should not be used in typical deployment scenarios. Use this setting to specify a system partition when you are configuring a drive that will be booted on another computer, such as a USB flash drive or a secondary hard drive. UEFI:
BIOS:
The following example copies BCD files from the C:Windows folder to a system partition on a secondary hard drive that will be booted on another computer. The system partition on the secondary drive was assigned the volume letter S: The following example creates boot entries on a USB flash drive with the volume letter S, including boot files to support either a UEFI-based or a BIOS-based computer: |
/f <firmware type> | Optional. Specifies the firmware type. Valid values include UEFI , BIOS , and ALL .
If you specify the /f option, you must also specify the /s option to identify the volume letter of the system partition. The following example copies BCD files that support booting on either a UEFI-based or a BIOS-based computer from the C:Windows folder to a USB flash drive that was assigned the volume letter S: |
/v | Optional. 3d max 2015 free download with crack. Enables verbose mode. Example: |
/m [{OS Loader GUID}] | Optional. Merges the values from an existing boot entry into a new boot entry. By default, this option merges only global objects. If you specify an OS Loader GUID, this option merges the loader object in the system template to produce a bootable entry. The following example merges the operating-system loader in the current BCD store that the specified GUID identifies in the new BCD store: |
/addlast | Optional. Specifies that the Windows Boot Manager firmware entry should be added last. The default behavior is to add it first. Cannot be used with /p. |
/p | Optional. Specifies that the existing Windows Boot Manager firmware entry position should be preserved in the UEFI boot order. If entry does not exist, a new entry is added in the first position. Cannot be used with /addlast. By default, during an upgrade BCDBoot moves the Windows Boot Manager to be the first entry in the UEFI boot order. |
/d | Optional. Preserves the existing default operating system entry in the {bootmgr} object in Windows Boot Manager. |
/c | Optional. Specifies that any existing BCD elements should not be migrated. New for Windows 10: By default, during an upgrade, BCD elements such as debugsettings or flightsigning are preserved. |
Repair the system partition
If the system partition has been corrupted, you can use BCDBoot to recreate the system partition files by using new copies of these files from the Windows partition.
- Boot your PC to a command line. For example, boot to the Windows installation disk and press Shift+F10, or boot to Windows PE (WinPE: Create USB Bootable drive).
- Use Diskpart to determine which drive letter contains your Windows partition and system partition (
diskpart, list vol, exit
). - Optional: Format your system partition:
format (drive letter of your system partition) /q
- Add a boot entry for your Windows partition:
bcdboot D:Windows
- Reboot the PC. Windows should appear.
Set up or repair the boot menu on a dual-boot PC
When setting up a PC to boot more than one operating system, you may sometimes lose the ability to boot into one of the operating systems. The BCDBoot option allows you to quickly add boot options for a Windows-based operating system. To set up a dual-boot PC:
- Ta 1030 flash file. Install a separate hard drive or prepare a separate partition for each operating system.
- Install the operating systems. For example, if your PC has Windows 7, install Windows 10 onto the other hard drive or partition.
- Reboot the PC. The boot menus should appear with both operating systems listed.If both operating systems aren't listed:
- Open a command line, either as an administrator from inside Windows, or by booting to a command line using the Windows installation media and pressing Shift+F10, or by booting to Windows PE (WinPE: Create USB Bootable drive).
- Add boot options for a Windows operating system.
- Reboot the PC. Now, the boot menu will show both menu options.
Troubleshooting
For information about repairing the boot files on a PC with Windows XP and a more recent version of Windows such as Windows 7, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 2277998.
Related topics
Windows 10 is a big, complicated OS that often has many different drivers, settings, and programs competing for space, and you might sometimes run into software conflicts. In this case — whether you notice that Windows isn't starting up properly or you're having problems installing updates — you can potentially root out the offender by performing a clean boot. Let's take a look at how to perform a clean boot, as well as how it can be used to figure out what is causing problems.
What you need to know before a clean boot
The beauty of a good OS is that you can install as many programs and services as you'd like to make it your own. When you boot Windows 10 normally, it starts up with a bunch of those extra programs and services that you added, and while everything will generally run well, you might eventually come across a software conflict.
If you notice that Windows 10 isn't operating properly, or if an official Windows 10 update won't install properly, it's always a good idea to check for any conflicts. By clean booting Windows, you should be able to root out the offender and make necessary changes.
Before clean booting, there are a few things to know. You must be signed in as an Administrator on your PC to be able to access these settings. This shouldn't be a problem if you're using your own device, but if you're at work, you might have to talk to a system admin.
Once you've clean booted your PC, don't be worried if it doesn't quite work as you remember. This is a state used to root out problems, and you'll be returning your PC to its normal state following this process.
How to perform a Windows 10 clean boot
Ready to clean boot Windows 10? Here are the steps involved.
- Right-click the Start button.
- Click Search.
- Type msconfig and hit Enter on your keyboard.
- Click Services.
- Click the checkbox next to Hide all Microsoft services.
- Click Disable all.
- Click Startup.
- Click Open Task Manager.
- Click any startup program you suspect might be interfering.
- Click Disable. Repeat steps 9 and 10 for all startup programs.
- Click the X to close Task Manager.
- Click OK in the System Configuration window.
- Restart your PC.
Once your PC restarts, only the essentials will boot. If you were having issues with a program or update, try to launch or install while in the clean boot environment. If the problem persists, you'll know that you don't have a software conflict and the problem lies elsewhere.
If the problem doesn't show up while in a clean boot, you can now attempt to find the offending program or service. The best way to do so is to repeat steps 1-5 above, but re-enable half of the services.
Re-enable the top half of all non-Microsoft services (anything crucial to Windows should be hidden by step 5). Once you restart your PC, test to see if the software conflict is back. If it isn't, repeat steps 1-5 again, but this time try re-enabling the bottom half of all non-Microsoft services instead. Restart your PC, and if the conflict is back, you'll know that the problem lies with one of the services in the lower half.
Whether the conflict lies in the top half or the bottom half of the services, you can now start to narrow down the search. Keep unchecking services and restarting your PC. Once you find that the issue is gone, you should be able to point directly at the problem.
Getting back to normal
Once you've performed your clean boot and have rooted out the problem, you can get your PC back to running normally, albeit without the service causing problems.
- Right-click the Start button.
- Click Search.
- Type msconfig and hit Enter on your keyboard.
- Click Services.
- Click the checkbox next to Hide all Microsoft services.
- Click Enable all.
- Click the checkbox next to the offending startup service.
- Click Startup.
- Click Open Task Manager.
- Click a startup program.
- Click Enable. Repeat steps 10-11 for all startup programs.
- Click the X to close Task Manager.
- Click OK in the System Configuration window.
- Click Restart.
Your PC should now restart and function as it should, albeit without the service causing a conflict.
More resources
For far more Windows 10 troubleshooting, be sure to check out our hub of help, tips, and tricks.