BCDEDIT - Boot Configuration Data Store Editor

The Bcdedit.exe command-line tool modifies the boot configuration data store. The boot configuration data store contains boot configuration parameters and controls how the operating system is booted. These parameters were previously in the Boot.ini file (in BIOS-based operating systems) or in the nonvolatile RAM entries (in Extensible Firmware Interface-based operating systems). You can use Bcdedit.exe to add, delete, edit, and append entries in the boot configuration data store.

For detailed command and option information, type bcdedit.exe /? <command>. For example, to display detailed information about the /createstore command, type:

bcdedit.exe /? /createstore

For an alphabetical list of topics in this help file, run “bcdedit /? TOPICS“.

• Commands that operate on a store

  /createstore

  Creates a new and empty boot configuration data store.

  /export

  Exports the contents of the system store to a file. This file can be used later to restore the state of the system store.

  /import

  Restores the state of the system store using a backup file created with the /export command.

• Commands that operate on entries in a store

  /copy

  Makes copies of entries in the store.

  /create

  Creates new entries in the store.

  /delete

  Deletes entries from the store.

  Run bcdedit /? ID for information about identifiers used by these commands.

• Commands that operate on entry options

  /deletevalue

  Deletes entry options from the store.

  /set

  Sets entry option values in the store.

  Run bcdedit /? TYPES for a list of datatypes used by these commands.
  Run bcdedit /? FORMATS for a list of valid data formats.

• Commands that control output

  /enum

  Lists entries in the store.

  /v

  Command-line option that displays entry identifiers in full, rather than using names for well-known identifiers. Use /v by itself as a command to display entry identifiers in full for the ACTIVE type.,

  Running “bcdedit” by itself is equivalent to running “bcdedit /enum ACTIVE“.

• Commands that control the boot manager

  /bootsequence

  Sets the one-time boot sequence for the boot manager.

  /default

  Sets the default entry that the boot manager will use.

  /displayorder

  Sets the order in which the boot manager displays the multiboot menu.

  /timeout

  Sets the boot manager time-out value.

  /toolsdisplayorder

  Sets the order in which the boot manager displays the tools menu.

• Commands that control Emergency Management Services for a boot application

  /bootems

  Enables or disables Emergency Management Services for a boot application.

  /ems

  Enables or disables Emergency Management Services for an operating system entry.

  /emssettings

  Sets the global Emergency Management Services parameters.

• Command that control debugging

  /bootdebug

  Enables or disables boot debugging for a boot application.

  /dbgsettings

  Sets the global debugger parameters.

  /debug

  Enables or disables kernel debugging for an operating system entry.