BCDEdit Technical Reference (Standard 8)

Article
09/29/2016

7/8/2014

Review the use, syntax, location, options, and parameters for the BCDEdit tool in Windows Embedded 8 Standard (Standard 8).

Boot Configuration Data (BCD) files provide a store that describes 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. You can use it for many purposes, such as 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 of Windows Embedded Standard but with the following major improvements:

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

Note

Administrator-level permissions are required to use BCDEdit to modify BCD.

BCDEdit is the primary tool for editing the boot configuration of Windows Embedded Standard 7, Windows Embedded Standard 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows Embedded 8 Standard (Standard 8) versions of Windows Embedded Standard. It is included with the Standard 8 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) 4.0 environment.

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. When you run this command without an argument, BCDEdit 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.

Displays a list of BCDEdit commands. When you run this command without an argument, BCDEdit 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. You can use this file 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	Specifies the store to be used. You can use this option with most bcdedit commands. If you do not specify this option, BCDEdit operates on the system store. When you run the bcdedit /store command by itself, it is the same as when you run 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 you specify a well-known identifier, the /application, /inherit, and /device options cannot be specified. If you do not specify an identifier, or the identifier is 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, when you run the bcdedit command without options, it is the same as when you run the bcdedit /enum active command.
/v	Uses verbose mode. Usually, any well-known entry identifiers are represented by their friendly shorthand form. When you specify /v as a command-line option, BCDEdit displays all identifiers in full. When you run the bcdedit /v command by itself, it is the same as when you run 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 OS 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.