EasyBCD

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
EasyBCD

EasyBCD screenshot.png
Basic data

Maintainer Mahmoud H. Al-Qudsi
developer NeoSmart Technologies
Publishing year 4th July 2006
Current  version 2.4.0.237
(November 28, 2018)
operating system Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008, Windows 10
programming language C , C #
License Shareware ( freeware for non-commercial use)
German speaking Yes
NeoSmart Technologies

EasyBCD is a program developed by NeoSmart Technologies . It is used to configure and customize the boot loader Bootmgr developed by Microsoft , which is part of the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) of Windows versions Windows Vista and later. EasyBCD can be used to create a multi-boot configuration between this and previous versions of Windows as well as Linux , BSD and Mac OS X to create.

Supported Operating Systems

EasyBCD changes the bootloader of the mentioned systems to add support for other entries. Windows NT , 2000 and XP are supported by loading their bootloader NTLDR (" Chainloading "); DOS , Windows 3.x , 95 , 98 and Me are loaded using modified versions of IO.sys and the Windows 9x boot sector ; Linux and BSD are loaded either by passing control of the boot process to GRUB and / or LILO , or by using EasyBCD's own NeoGrub module (which is based on GRUB4DOS ); Finally, Mac OS X is loaded using the Darwin bootloader.

Features

Bootloader

EasyBCD has a number of features related to the boot loader. They can be used to repair and configure the boot loader. In the “Manage Bootloader” department of EasyBCD it is possible to choose between the bootloaders BOOTMGR and NTLDR in the master boot record while Windows is running. EasyBCD also offers the option to backup and restore the BCD.

In the “Diagnostics Center” it is possible to reset a defective BCD memory and automatically generate the necessary entries for the current operating system . From there you can also search for missing or destroyed boot files and restore them if necessary.

EasyBCD can be used to change the drive from which the system is booted, to rename the entries in the bootloader or to change their order and to change existing entries so that they point to a different drive.

Windows

EasyBCD supports a number of different Windows entries for the following operating systems:

  • DOS 6.x
  • Windows 95-Me
  • Windows 2000 / XP / 2003
  • Windows Vista / Server 2008
  • Windows 7
  • Windows 8
  • Windows 10

Certain other options may be available depending on the version of Windows whose startup entry is being added in EasyBCD. So it is for example possible to enable support for unsigned drivers on 64-bit Windows installations on or off, adjust that in the safe mode to boot, and Data Execution Prevention / the NoExecute bit off.

Windows PE

Windows PE 2.0 is supported by a separate module in EasyBCD. EasyBCD can boot into two different Windows PE 2.0 systems:

EasyBCD supports booting WinPE 2.0 WIM images that are stored on any local partition by providing the path to the WIM file. EasyBCD will automatically reconfigure the BCD to add support for the WIM format. It can also boot into a Windows PE file system that has been extracted to the root of a mounted drive.

Linux / BSD

EasyBCD can boot Linux and BSD in two ways:

The traditional chain loading method creates an image of the GRUB / LILO boot sector on the local hard drive and loads this image at boot time in order to load the second boot loader ( chain loading ), which should already be configured to boot into Linux or BSD.

EasyBCD also offers NeoGrub, a customized version of Grub for DOS that can be configured by creating the file C: \ NST \ menu.lst, which uses standard GRUB syntax to provide the information needed to boot into the respective Windows, Linux or BSD partitions are listed.

Mac OS X

EasyBCD can chainload the Mac OS X Darwin bootloader to load the OS X that resides on a different partition or physical drive. It is not necessary that Darwin is installed in the boot sector of the OS X partition.

See also

credentials

  1. ^ Mahmoud Al-Qudsi: Supported Operating Systems . neosmart.net. 2008. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
  2. ^ Mahmoud Al-Qudsi: Supported Operating Systems . neosmart.net. 2008. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
  3. ↑ neosmart: How to install the vista bootloader on a windows xp machine . neosmart.net. 2007. Retrieved in 2009 07 29.
  4. ^ Mahmoud Al-Qudsi: Configuring the Bootloader . neosmart.net. 2007. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
  5. ^ Mahmoud Al-Qudsi: Add and Remove Entries . neosmart.net. 2007. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
  6. ^ Mahmoud Al-Qudsi: Linux . neosmart.net. 2009. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
  7. ↑ various authors (see neosmart wiki page history): NeoGrub . neosmart.net. 2009. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
  8. ↑ Mahmoud Al-Qudsi: Mac OS X . neosmart.net. 2008. Retrieved July 29, 2009.

Web links