With Windows Server 2008 (as well as Windows Vista), the entire boot process has been
re-engineered, resulting in the creation of the Boot Configuration Data (BCD). The BCD
replaces NTLDR completely in its functionality, and, rather than store the boot configuration
in a text file such as boot.ini, everything is now stored in a binary format that can
be manipulated only using one of the following editing methods: BCDEdit.exe or coding
using Windows Management Interface (WMI).
The BCD is physically stored in one of two locations. For BIOS-based operating systems,
the BCD is stored in the \Boot\BCD directory of the active partition. For Extensible
Firmware Interface (EFI)??“based operating systems, the BCD is stored on the EFI system
partition (NVRAM). For those of you who may not be familiar with EFI, you??™ll see it implemented
in 64-bit systems. Currently, these are the only two systems supported by BCD;
however, in technical terms, it would be possible for Microsoft to extend the BCD to other
boot systems in the future. The internal structure of the BCD is that of a registry hive,
which makes sense due to the hierarchal nature of the data being stored there; however,
you should never attempt to manipulate the BCD using tools designed for the registry.
The BCD architecture is a hierarchy, which is exactly why it made sense to reuse
the registry hive format for this data store.
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