How to run bcdedit?

[steve17]

I want to change the name of the Windows 7 entries in the O.S. selection menu that shows up at startup. And put the default back to XP.

I believe I have to run bcdedit to do that. I think I did that with the previous beta version, but the rc version won't let me. I get the message "The boot configuration data store could not be opened. Access is denied."

Are we really sure this is better than XP?

Edited May 31, 2009 by steve17

[Guest]

You might have to run in an elevated command prompt. I recommend using EasyBCD http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1

And no, I don't think its better than XP. Boot.ini was much simpler.

[steve17]

Thanks -X-. EasyBCD did the trick.

But I'm still confused as to why I get the error message when I try bcdedit. Maybe that's because I don't understand "elevated" and UAC.

I think I'm running as an admin. I use the account the Win7 installer created. Win7 tells me I'm a member of the administrator's group. But I still can't run bcdedit. What the heck is going on?

EasyBCD runs okay but bcdedit can't access the data store. Very strange.

By the way, when I installed EasyBCD it insisted on getting internet access. At least a box requesting it kept popping up and wouldn't take no for an answer. That's okay, I dialed up and it installed fine. I have been keeping Win7 rc off the internet as much as possible until I get an antivirus working. NOD32 version 3.0.667.0 doesn't work, although it works on the previous beta version of Win7.

Edit: I'm running EasyBCD from a shortcut and running bcdedit from a command prompt.

Edited May 31, 2009 by steve17

[Mr Snrub]

But I'm still confused as to why I get the error message when I try bcdedit. Maybe that's because I don't understand "elevated" and UAC.

I think I'm running as an admin. I use the account the Win7 installer created. Win7 tells me I'm a member of the administrator's group. But I still can't run bcdedit. What the heck is going on?

bcdedit.exe is a command-line "administrative task" from Windows' perspective (if it was a GUI app it would have the shield symbol superimposed over its icon to indicate this).

A member of the Administrators group is still subject to User Account Control - it can be argued that these users are more appropriate for UAC due to the greater risk if something malicious ran in their context.

(The one and only exception to UAC when it is enabled is the Administrator account, it has a static, well-known SID and the account is disabled by default.)

You have 2 security tokens when logged on as an administrator - one user and one administrative.

By default, processes are started with your user token, so if the process attempts to perform an administrative task it will fail with "access denied".

(The programs can have a "manifest" provided to change this behaviour, but for cmd.exe it is the default.)

If you right-click the Command Prompt shortcut in Start / All Programs / Accessories and click "Run as administrator" then it will launch the process with your administrative token - this will trigger a UAC popup to confirm you really want to do this - then administrative programs (such as bcdedit.exe) can execute happily.

Basically, the whole concept of UAC to is alert the user when their account wants to start a process that has the potential to change part of the system itself - by having the user "sign off" these alerts, they are at least made aware when something may have a greater impact than they realise, or if a process is being launched without their knowledge (malware/spyware).

[steve17]

Thanks Mr. Snrub. I'll get the hang of it someday.

I found I could run bcdedit if I started the command prompt running as administrator.

I also noticed the first time I run EasyBCD after logging on, I get a UAC window asking if I want to run the program from an unknown publisher. I had not paid much attention to it before because I think I occasionally get something similar with XP.

Running bcdedit made me glad I had downloaded EasyBCD. Thanks again -X=.

[spacesurfer]

to be more accurate, bcdedit is a command line tool, which means you don't "run" it but you use it with parameters depending on what you want to accomplish.

you have to learn the syntax for bcdedit before using it. you just can't "run" it and expect it to tell you what to do next.

this is the reason tools like easybcd and vistaboot pro were created but behind the scenes, this is all that these gui programs do - they run bcdedit in the background.