Index Introduction The BCD Store The System BCD Store Default Paths\Setup (BIOS) Default Paths\Setup (UEFI) BCDEdit - The Basics Check Entries in a BCD Store Devices Devices - locate Backing up the BCD Store Examples - Part 1 Examples - Part 2 Examples - Part 3 Examples - Part 4 BCDEdit Commands BCDEdit Versions Mounting the BCD Store... Acknowledgements Appendices ========= Glossary BCDEdit (version 6.0.6001) BCDEdit (version 6.1.7601) BCDEdit (version 6.3.9600) Device Partition - Data Objects and Elements Alternatives to bcdedit UEFI, BIOS, GPT and MBR

Objects and Elements

Please refer to the BCDEdit Reference (White Paper - dated January 31, 2008) for more detailed information about the topics covered here.

• Objects
• Elements

Objects

As stated previously, Objects in a BCD Store all have a unique 38 character GUID value in the format {xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx} - where x is a hexadecimal digit. Some objects have a predefined GUID whilst other are randomly generated. BCDEdit uses some well-known identifiers (e.g. {bootmgr}, {ntldr}) for the objects with a predefined GUID value - these are sometimes referred to as friendly names.

Entries in the Name/Type column in the table below enclosed in { } brackets (e.g. {bootmgr}) is a friendly name. Any entry in the Name/Type not enclosed in brackets will have a randomly generated GUID.

Entries in the GUID column in the table below show the underlying GUID value that corresponds to the friendly name.

Entries in the CODE column in the table below are covered in more detail in the Mounting the BCD Store as a Registry Hive section of these notes.

The list below is not exhaustive - it shows some of the more common object types. The information in this table has been taken from www.geoffchappell.com...bcd/objects.htm - please refer to Geoff's site or the BCDEdit Reference (White Paper - dated January 31, 2008) for more detailed information about these objects and a comprehensive list of other objects not covered here.

To create any of the above objects in a BCD store use the command syntax bcdedit /create {bootmgr} [enter] (for those with friendly names) or bcdedit /create /application osloader [enter] for those without.

Elements

Entries in the Name/Type column in the tables show the command that needs to be used with the set command in bcdedit. To set/change the timeout element in the {bootmgr} object for example, we could use the following command -
bcdedit.exe /store C:\Boot\BCD /set {bootmgr} timeout 20

Entries in the CODE column in the tables below are covered in more detail in the Mounting the BCD Store as a Registry Hive section of these notes.

Entries in the Format column in the tables below indicate the data type that needs to be used with the relevant element -

• integer - numeric value.
• GUID - a guid in the format {xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx}.
• GUID list - a range of guid values.
• boolean - TRUE (use 1, ON, YES, TRUE) or FALSE (0, OFF, NO, FALSE).
• device - BOOT, PARTITION=#:, etc (see here).
• string - text. Usually a path or description.

The list below is not exhaustive - it shows some of the more common element types. The information in this table has been taken from www.geoffchappell.com...bcd/elements.htm - please refer to Geoff's site or the BCDEdit Reference (White Paper - dated January 31, 2008) for more detailed information about these elements and a comprehensive list of other elements not covered here.

• Generic Elements
• BOOTMGR and FWBOOTMGR
• OSLOADER
• RESUME
• DEVICE

Generic Elements that apply to all Object types -

Elements in BOOTMGR and FWBOOTMGR Object -

Elements in the OSLOADER Object -

Elements in the RESUME Object -

Elements in the Device Object -