BOOTCFG - The Booting Controller in Windows XP

BOOTCFG is a utility program provided by Microsoft in its Windows XP Operating System to control the way Windows will boot. It is a DOS command and has great functionality of editing Boot.ini file which controls the booting. Editing this file by hand can create drastic errors and carries potential to make your system so faulty that it will become totally unusable. Hence it is recommended by Microsoft to use BOOTCFG to control the booting settings. It is a DOS command and has the following parameters.

BOOTCFG /parameter [arguments]

Description: - This command line tool can be used to configure, query, change or
delete the boot entry settings in the BOOT.INI file.

Parameter List:

/Copy: - Makes a copy of an existing boot entry [operating
systems] section for which you can add OS options to.

/Delete: - Deletes an existing boot entry in the [operating systems] section of the BOOT.INI file. You must specify the entry# to delete.

/Query: - Displays the current boot entries and their settings.

/Raw: - Allows the user to specify any switch options to be added for a specified boot entry.

/Timeout: - Allows the user to change the Timeout value.

/Default: - Allows the user to change the Default boot entry.

/EMS: - Allows the user to configure the /redirect switch for headless support for a boot entry.

/Debug: - Allows the user to specify the port and baudrate for remote debugging for a specified boot entry.

/Addsw: - Allows the user to add predefined switches for a specific boot entry.

/Rmsw: - Allows the user to remove predefined switches for a specific boot entry.

/Dbg1394: - Allows the user to configure 1394 port debugging for a specified boot entry.

/?: - Displays this help/usage.

Examples:
BOOTCFG /Copy /?
BOOTCFG /Delete /?
BOOTCFG /Query /?
BOOTCFG /Raw /?
BOOTCFG /Timeout /?
BOOTCFG /EMS /?
BOOTCFG /Debug /?
BOOTCFG /Addsw /?
BOOTCFG /Rmsw /?
BOOTCFG /Dbg1394 /?
BOOTCFG /Default /?
BOOTCFG /?

Detailed Explanation: This command is used to change the way Windows boots. The various parameters allow you to change the boot menu, timeout, delete the operating system from the list, allow booting from network, set default operating system and more! To get help on any switch of this command, type bootcfg / /? at the command prompt.

/copy switch - This switch helps you make another copy of an existing boot entry in the list. Say you have Windows 98 and Windows XP on your system. The command bootcfg /copy /ID 1 will add another entry of Windows XP. You can customize the booting of this entry according to your wish by other parameters.

/Delete switch - This switch will allow you to delete an entry from the boot menu. Say you have Windows XP and Windows 98 with Windows XP at the 1st place in the boot menu and Windows 98 at the 2nd place then a command like bootcfg /delete /ID 2 will remove the Windows 98 from the boot menu. After removing an OS (Operating System) from the boot menu, it becomes safe to delete its installation folder and/or format the partition in which the Operating system was loaded!

/query switch - This in fact is the most important switch and should be used before any other switch in this command. This switch does no changes but gives you the information on the currently configured booting options. Speaking technically, it shows you the contents of the C:\boot.ini file. This switch does show the following results on my computer:

C:\>bootcfg /query

Boot Loader Settings
--------------------
timeout: 30
default: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS

Boot Entries
------------
Boot entry ID: 1
Friendly Name: "Microsoft Windows XP Professional"
Path: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
OS Load Options: /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

So what does that output mean? Lets get it one by one:

The first line is self explanatory. It tells you that the following is the Boot Loader Settings. After this line there is a block between two lines. In this block the first line tells you the time which it gives you to select an Operating system from the list. In case of only one OS, this timeout has no meaning. The next line tells which Operating system 'path' is the one which will be taken as the default Operating system. Next line tells the beginning of a new field namely 'Boot Entries'. The block following this line gives the details about the operating system(s). The first line of the block tells you the internal ID number using which the boot loader refers to an OS in the list. The next line gives you the friendly name of the operating system which is displayed on the boot menu. The next line is the path of the folder where the boot-loader searches for the files necessary to load the OS. And the last line tells the options for loading the operating system. For example, if you add /noguiboot at the last of this line then the boot screen will be disabled.

/raw switch - This switch allows the user to add specific boot options for a particular OS entry in the menu. To get more help on this switch, type this command at the command prompt : bootcfg /raw /?

/timeout switch - This is very simple. You can change the countdown timing after which the computer boot loader selects the default OS from the list. Type bootcfg /timeout /? at the command prompt for more help.

/default switch - This is also simple. It allows you to select the default operating system from the boot list. However this has no effect when you have only one OS (Windows) loaded on your machine.

/ems switch - This switch allows one to configure the /redirect switch with headless support booting if any entry in the boot menu is configured to be booted from a remote machine allowing you to configure the COM ports, baud rate, and the machine to connect to. This switch also allows you to set an ID number for the boot menu.

/Debug switch - This switch allows the user to specify the port and baudrate for remote debugging for a specified boot entry.

/Addsw switch - This switch will allow you to add a predefined switch to an existing boot entry

/remsw switch - It allows you to remove an existing switch from a boot entry in the menu.

Hope that this explanation would have given a fair idea about the command the power it gives you to boot windows! Want to learn more, join the user forums and discuss with other members!

BOOTCFG - The Booting Controller in Windows XP

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