BCDEdit Command-Line Options (Standard 7 SP1)

7/8/2014

Boot Configuration Data (BCD) files provide a store that is used to describe boot applications and boot-application settings. The objects and elements in the store effectively replace Boot.ini.

BCDEdit is a command-line tool for managing BCD stores. It can be used for many purposes. This includes creating new stores, modifying existing stores, adding boot-menu options, and so on. BCDEdit serves basically the same purpose as Bootcfg.exe on earlier versions Windows Embedded Standard 7, but with the following major improvements:

• Exposes a wider range of boot options than Bootcfg.exe
• Has improved scripting support

Note

Administrative credentials are required to use BCDEdit to modify BCD.

BCDEdit is the primary tool for editing the boot configuration of Standard 7 and later versions of Standard 7. It is included with the Standard 7 distribution in the %WINDIR%\System32 folder.

BCDEdit is limited to the standard data types and is primarily designed to perform single common changes to BCD. For more complex operations or non-standard data types, consider using the BCD Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) API to create more powerful and flexible custom tools.

Where to Find BCDEdit

BCDEdit is included in a typical Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) 3.0 environment. For information on creating a Windows PE boot disk, see Create a Bootable USB Flash Drive.

BCDEdit Command-Line Options

The following command-line options are available for BCDEdit.exe:

BCDEdit /Command [Argument1] [Argument2]...

General BCDEdit Command-Line Options

Option	Description
/?	Displays a list of BCDEdit commands. Running this command without an argument displays a summary of the available commands. To display detailed Help for a particular command, run the bcdedit /?command, where command is the name of the command for which you are searching for more information. For example, bcdedit /? createstore displays detailed Help for the Createstore command.

BCDEdit Command-Line Options that Operate on a Store

Option	Description
/createstore	Creates a new empty boot-configuration data store. The created store is not a system store.
/export	Exports the contents of the system store into a file. This file can be used later to restore the state of the system store. This command is valid only for the system store.
/import	Restores the state of the system store by using a backup data file previously generated by using the /export option. This command deletes any existing entries in the system store before the import occurs. This command is valid only for the system store.
/store	This option can be used with most bcdedit commands to specify the store to be used. If this option is not specified, BCDEdit operates on the system store. Running the bcdedit /store command by itself is the same as running the bcdedit /enum active command.

BCDEdit Command-Line Options that Operate on Entries in a Store

Option	Description
/copy	Makes a copy of a specified boot entry in the same system store.
/create	Creates a new entry in the boot-configuration data store. If a well-known identifier is specified, the /application, /inherit, and /device options cannot be specified. If an identifier is not specified or not well known, an /application, /inherit, or /device option must be specified.
/delete	Deletes an element from a specified entry.

BCDEdit Command-Line Options that Operate on Entry Options

Option	Description
/deletevalue	Deletes a specified element from a boot entry.
/set	Sets an entry option value.

BCDEdit Command-Line Options that Control Output

Option	Description
/enum	Lists entries in a store. The /enum option is the default value for bcdedit. Therefore, running the bcdedit command without options is the same as running the bcdedit /enumactive command.
/v	Verbose mode. Usually, any well-known entry identifiers are represented by their friendly shorthand form. Specifying /v as a command-line option displays all identifiers in full. Running the bcdedit /v command by itself is the same as running the bcdedit /enum active /v command.

BCDEdit Command-Line Options that Control the Boot Manager

Option	Description
/bootsequence	Specifies a one-time display order to be used for the next boot. This command resembles the /displayorder option, except that it is used only the next time that the computer starts. Afterward, the computer reverts to the original display order.
/default	Specifies the default entry that the boot manager selects when the time-out expires.
/displayorder	Specifies the display order that the boot manager uses when displaying boot options to a user.
/timeout	Specifies the time to wait, in seconds, before the boot manager selects the default entry.
/toolsdisplayorder	Specifies the display order for the boot manager to use when displaying the Tools menu.

BCDEdit Command-Line Options that Control Emergency Management Services

Option	Description
/bootems	Enables or disables Emergency Management Services for the specified entry.
/ems	Enables or disables Emergency Management Services for the specified operating system boot entry.
/emssettings	Sets the global Emergency Management Services settings for the computer. The /emssettings option does not enable or disable Emergency Management Services for any particular boot entry.

BCDEdit Command-Line Options that Control Debugging

Option	Description
/bootdebug	Enables or disables the boot debugger for a specified boot entry. Although this command works for any boot entry, it is effective only for boot applications.
/dbgsettings	Specifies or displays the global debugger settings for the system. This command does not enable or disable the kernel debugger; use the /debug option for that purpose. To set an individual global debugger setting, use the bcdedit /set dbgsettings type value command.
/debug	Enables or disables the kernel debugger for a specified boot entry.

For examples of BCDEdit in Boot Configuration Data (BCD) in Standard 7, see Boot Configuration Data in Windows Vista at this Microsoft Web site.