Guy Recommends

A solution to monitor, manage and archive thousands of events that are generated by devices across the entire network. 
Download FREE trial

---

---

Guy's Top 10 Free Tools

1) FreePing
2) Network Monitor
3) Xobni
4) PuTTY (UNIX)
5) IP SLA Monitor
6) BgInfo
7) Net-SNMP
8) CatTools 
9) Exchange Monitor
10) WinDiff

Windows Vista - BCD (Boot Configuration Data)

Windows Vista - BCD (Boot Configuration Data)

Boot.ini really will be the last of the .ini files.  In Vista, Boot.ini is superseded by the BCD (Boot configuration data).  While the acronym BCD is rather anonymous, Boot Configuration Data is a wonderfully descriptive expression, more importantly, it gives you control of what should happen when Vista starts.

Naturally BCD supports both BIOS and Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) machines.  However, I cannot help wondering if the new EFI has prompted Microsoft to finally abandon boot.ini in favour of BCD.

Trap: Before launching CMD, right click CMD and select, RunAs, administrator.  To get a handle on BCD type: bcdedit /? at the command prompt.  This command fires up bcdedit.exe which is stored in the %systemroot%\system32 folder.

Bcdedit is a comprehensive utility with numerous switches, here is the information displayed by the simple switch: bcdedit /enum.

 ♦

/enum all /v

With the 'all' and the verbose (/v) switches you can retrieve hex information about the various parameters for example:

Output from the above command.

Editing BCD Settings

/timeout

I would like to start without /timeout, it's the easiest change to understand and to monitor.

Here is an easy change:
bcdedit /timeout 5

To see the effect, re-run plain: bcdedit

/displayorder

The key point with /displayorder is that you can only use particular GUIDs encased in curly brackets.  The knack is to research for GUIDs in sections starting with:

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {cbd971bf-b7b8-4885-951a-fa03044f5d71}

Tip: You can 'Mark' and copy these hex blocks at the command-line.  Click on the tiny icon at the top left of your cmd box.

Trap: The GUIDs must exist, you cannot just make them up.  Moreover they must correspond to real settings as indicated under 'identifier'.

Example 1:
/displayorder generic syntax {os1} {os2}
/displayorder {current} {cbd971bf-b7b8-4885-951a-fa03044f5d71}

Example 2:
/displayorder {3b1cb4c9-5398-11dd-88aa-a0b620d5ce11} {9f25ee7a-e7b7-11db-94b5-f7e662935912}

I say again, you have to use your GUIDs and not mine; test by re-running the command: bcdedit.  The key point is to synchronize with the rhythm of the syntax,
/displayorder space curly bracket os1 curly bracket space curly bracket os2 curly bracket.

bcdedit /default

Here is the classic switch to control what happens after the timeout expires.

bcdedit /default {GUID}

bcdedit /default {3b1cb4c9-5398-11dd-88aa-a0b620d5ce11}

Note 1: In the above example setting the /default in this way changes the bcd code, as a result my computer now boots into Vista.  Just to remind you that tweaking the default GUID only makes sense if you have a multi-boot machine.

See more of my bcdedit examples here

Guy Recommends: SolarWinds Engineer's Toolset v10

The Engineer's Toolset v10 provides a comprehensive console of utilities for troubleshooting computer problems.  Guy says it helps me monitor what's occurring on the network, and the tools teaches me more about how the system literally operates.

There are so many good gadgets, it's like having free rein of a sweetshop. Thankfully the utilities are displayed logically: monitoring, discovery, diagnostic, and Cisco tools.  Download your copy of the Engineer's Toolset v 10

Identifying then changing the Default Boot Manager

I have to say that I am not finding bcdedit easy to use.  Here is an example where you examine the setting for the default boot manager.

bcdedit /enum all /v

Part of the output from the above command.

Amongst the entries for Windows Boot Manager is:

Default: {cbd971bf-b7b8-4885-951a-fa03044f5d71}   (Meaning Vista)

If you wanted to change it to an XP Boot Manager then type

bcdedit /default {466f5a88-0af2-4f76-9038-095b170dc21c}  (Meaning XP)

To be fair to Vista, perhaps it's because I am not familiar with these hex numbers that I have difficulty getting in tune with bcdedit.

Summary of Vista BCD

In Windows Vista, BCD and bcdedit replace the boot.ini found in XP and older Windows operating systems. 

See more bcdedit examples here

Windows Vista Training

Train Signal have an excellent Windows Vista Training Course.  As an MCT trainer, I am a huge advocate of Train Signal’s products.  What impresses is me is that they demonstrate everything that they teach and they stay away from traditional 'lecture-style' training.  If you are looking for a complete DETAILED coverage of Windows Vista, then I highly recommend that you give this course a try.  I have reviewed their 18 hours of videos myself, and I guarantee that you will not be disappointed!

Watch a Vista Training Video Demo.

Configuring Windows Vista Topics:

 *