Home > ResourceThe Boot Configuration database (BCD) is a configuration file used by Windows Vista and later operating systems to store and manage the installed operating systems on a computer. As a replacement for the traditional boot.ini, it uses a binary format storage structure to record multi-boot configurations, startup parameters, and advanced options (e.g., Safe mode, Debug mode). In fact, for an average Windows user, we only need to think of it as a file that stores the Windows boot menu entries.
When the computer is started, the Windows loader reads the multi-boot information stored in the BCD file and presents it to the user in a modern graphical boot menu or a traditional character mode boot menu, allowing the user to select the operating system to boot based on their needs, as shown in the screenshots below:
