How can I edit the boot configuration data (BCD) store of another disk?

Question

BCDEdit allows for editing the bcd store of the current system drive (C: drive). Is there also a way to create and edit the bcd store of a secondary drive, so the system can boot from it later on? (For instance, by physically moving the drive to another machine as the primary disk)

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 28 '10 at 18:05

6

Run your BCDEDIT commands using the /store parameter:

bcdedit /store E:\boot\BCD /enum

answered Jul 28 '10 at 18:05

Massimo

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 20 '16 at 00:26

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You can edit a non-system BCD by simply dropping it on Visual BCD Editor icon.

The system BCD is opened on start of program by default.

The concept of Visual BCD Editor is to avoid typing and execute all commands through visual selection in a graphical environment.

answered Mar 20 '16 at 00:26

snayob

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Sorry, I didn't find this thread sooner ;) – snayob Mar 22 '16 at 12:28
@Max - Same here, just saw this question/ thread. :) Enjoy – Alex S Nov 18 '16 at 09:34
Note that Visual BCD Editor is only free for non-commercial use. – jrh Feb 08 '18 at 13:42

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Feb 09 '18 at 08:37

EasyBCD has been around for long as well. Is a very popular one in addition to Visual BCD. This tool is free for non-commercial use.

There are a few more niche apps in similar space as well.

I prefer EasyBCD for simple operations as its easier & cleaner (safer to use in case you're not sure what you're doing), but I'd think that Visual BCD has deeper parameter change-ability.

PS: There are some issues with UEFI/ Windows that EasyBCD says it cannot handle.

How can I edit the boot configuration data (BCD) store of another disk?

3 Answers3