Ok scratched that last idea quick... what I did instead is tried to use the RTM ver bcdedit like this: For reference: My Vista is installed on V:\ and ive got a C:\ its my XP drive.... and ive got a network mapped drive Y:\ (which is really V:\TFTPRoot shared and loop mounted to Y:\ heh ) In the **** WAIK it keeps saying: "Bcdedit –store c:\BCD –create whatver {blah blah}" I now interpret that as: "Bcdedit /create whatver {blah blah}" I make sure the BCD I edit is the right one by comparing file sizes... so far I havent finished that... The reasons are: 1) Its the next thing I need to do and ive been putting it off 2) I cant seem to specify the C:\BCD as in the WAIK's instructions... so since I am not allowed to specify the one I want to edit within the command then what the hell am I really editing? Y:\>dir Volume in drive Y is Vista Volume Serial Number is 6E0E-4E5A Directory of Y:\ 12/10/2006 09:22 PM <DIR> . 12/10/2006 09:22 PM <DIR> .. 12/10/2006 09:22 PM 8,192 BCD 12/10/2006 09:17 PM <DIR> Boot 1 File(s) 8,192 bytes 3 Dir(s) 28,278,714,368 bytes free Y:\>bcdedit Windows Boot Manager -------------------- identifier {bootmgr} device partition=C: description Windows Boot Manager locale en-US inherit {globalsettings} default {current} displayorder {ntldr} {current} toolsdisplayorder {memdiag} timeout 30 Windows Legacy OS Loader ------------------------ identifier {ntldr} device partition=C: path \ntldr description Earlier Version of Windows Windows Boot Loader ------------------- identifier {current} device partition=V: path \Windows\system32\winload.exe description Microsoft Windows Vista locale en-US inherit {bootloadersettings} osdevice partition=V: systemroot \Windows resumeobject {7ff84399-88c8-11db-8f95-ade44ef0acc0} nx OptIn Y:\>Bcdedit /create {ramdiskoptions} /d "Ramdisk options" A description for the new entry must be specified. Run "bcdedit /?" for command line assistance. What I did here was type my own quotation marks rather than use the copy and pasted ones from the WAIK (wack) guide... seems M$ has a couple of tricks up their sleeves to still p*** me off!) So with good quotes: Y:\>Bcdedit /create {ramdiskoptions} /d "Ramdisk options" The entry {ramdiskoptions} was successfully created. Y:\>bcdedit /set {ramdiskoptions} ramdisksdidevice boot The operation completed successfully. Y:\>bcdedit /create /d "WyWinPE Boot Image" /application osloader The entry {d819fccc-88dc-11db-831a-0016ec20b410} was successfully created. Y:\>bcdedit /create {bootmgr} /d "Windows VISTA BootManager" An error occurred while attempting the specified create operation. The specified entry already exists. Y:\>Bcdedit -createstore c:\BCD The specified command line is not valid. Run "bcdedit /?" for command line assistance. Y:\>Bcdedit /createstore y:\BCD The store creation operation has failed. Cannot create a file when that file already exists. Y:\>Bcdedit /createstore y:\Boot\BCD The store creation operation has failed. Access is denied. Y:\>Bcdedit Windows Boot Manager -------------------- identifier {bootmgr} device partition=C: description Windows Boot Manager locale en-US inherit {globalsettings} default {current} displayorder {ntldr} {current} toolsdisplayorder {memdiag} timeout 30 Windows Legacy OS Loader ------------------------ identifier {ntldr} device partition=C: path \ntldr description Earlier Version of Windows Windows Boot Loader ------------------- identifier {current} device partition=V: path \Windows\system32\winload.exe description Microsoft Windows Vista locale en-US inherit {bootloadersettings} osdevice partition=V: systemroot \Windows resumeobject {7ff84399-88c8-11db-8f95-ade44ef0acc0} nx OptIn Y:\>bcdedit /set {d819fccc-88dc-11db-831a-0016ec20b410} systemroot \Windows The operation completed successfully. Y:\>bcdedit /set {d819fccc-88dc-11db-831a-0016ec20b410} detecthal Yes The operation completed successfully. Y:\>bcdedit /set {d819fccc-88dc-11db-831a-0016ec20b410} winpe Yes The operation completed successfully. Y:\>bcdedit /set {d819fccc-88dc-11db-831a-0016ec20b410} osdevice ramdisk=[boot]\ Boot\WinPE.wim,{ramdiskoptions} The operation completed successfully. Y:\>bcdedit /set {d819fccc-88dc-11db-831a-0016ec20b410} device ramdisk=[boot]\Bo ot\WinPE.wim,{ramdiskoptions} The operation completed successfully. Y:\>bcdedit /create {bootmgr} /d "Windows VISTA BootManager" An error occurred while attempting the specified create operation. The specified entry already exists. Y:\>Bcdedit /set {bootmgr} timeout 30 The operation completed successfully. Y:\>Bcdedit /set displayorder {d819fccc-88dc-11db-831a-0016ec20b410} The element data type specified is not recognized, or does not apply to the specified entry. Run "bcdedit /?" for command line assistance. Y:\>bcdedit /? set This command sets an entry option value in the boot configuration data store. bcdedit [/store <filename>] /set [{<id>}] <datatype> <value> <filename> Specifies the store to be used. If this option is not specified, the system store is used. For more information, run "bcdedit /? store". <id> Specifies the identifier of the entry to be modified. If not specified, {current} is used. For more information about identifiers, run "bcdedit /? ID". <datatype> Specifies the option data type that will be created or modified. Run "bcdedit /? TYPES" for more information about data types. <value> Specifies the value that should be assigned to the option. The format of <value> depends on the data type specified. Run "bcdedit /? FORMATS" for more information about data formats. Examples: The following command sets the application device to the partition C: for the specified operating system entry: bcdedit /set {cbd971bf-b7b8-4885-951a-fa03044f5d71} device partition=C: The following command sets the application path to \windows\system32\winload.exe for the specified operating system entry: bcdedit /set {cbd971bf-b7b8-4885-951a-fa03044f5d71} path \windows\system32\winload.exe The following command sets the NX policy to OptIn for the current operating system boot entry. bcdedit /set nx optin Y:\>bcdedit /? displayorder This command sets the display order to be used by the boot manager. bcdedit /displayorder <id> [...] [ /addfirst | /addlast | /remove ] <id> [...] Specifies a list of identifiers that make up the display order. At least one identifier must be specified and they must be separated by spaces. For more information about identifiers, run "bcdedit /? ID". /addfirst Adds the specified entry identifier to the top of the display order. If this switch is specified, only a single entry identifier may be specified. If the specified identifier is already in the list, it will be moved to the top of the list. /addlast Adds the specified entry identifier to the end of the display order. If this switch is specified, only a single entry identifier may be specified. If the specified identifier is already in the list, it is moved to the end of the list. /remove Removes the specified entry identifier from the display order. If this switch is specified, only a single entry identifier may be specified. If the identifier is not in the list then the operation has no effect. If the last entry is being removed, then the display order value is deleted from the boot manager entry. Examples: The following command sets two OS entries and the NTLDR based OS loader in the boot manager display order: bcdedit /displayorder {802d5e32-0784-11da-bd33-000476eba25f} {cbd971bf-b7b8-4885-951a-fa03044f5d71} {ntldr} The following command adds the specified OS entry to the end of the boot manager display order: bcdedit /displayorder {802d5e32-0784-11da-bd33-000476eba25f} /addlast Y:\>Bcdedit /displayorder {d819fccc-88dc-11db-831a-0016ec20b410} The operation completed successfully. Y:\>bcdedit Windows Boot Manager -------------------- identifier {bootmgr} device partition=C: description Windows Boot Manager locale en-US inherit {globalsettings} default {current} displayorder {d819fccc-88dc-11db-831a-0016ec20b410} toolsdisplayorder {memdiag} timeout 30 Windows Boot Loader ------------------- identifier {d819fccc-88dc-11db-831a-0016ec20b410} device ramdisk=[boot]\Boot\WinPE.wim,{ramdiskoptions} description WyWinPE Boot Image osdevice ramdisk=[boot]\Boot\WinPE.wim,{ramdiskoptions} systemroot \Windows detecthal Yes winpe Yes Y:\> Ill now Install VirtualPC 2007 beta and see if I can boot using any BCDs ive just created... (yep got a few to test cuz i have no idea which one was just written! time to check timestamps/sizes I guess sheesh