BCD device objects contain BCD elements for complex devices, unlike simple devices
such as partitions, which can be defined as simple BCD elements. BCD device objects are
most commonly used for describing booting RAM disks created from Windows Image
(WIM) files, as this type of device type can contain the location of the WIM file in addition
to any relevant port information if loaded from the network.
BCD Elements
Unlike the older boot.ini system, BCD elements have distinct data types associated with
the data values. For example, an element can contain a String, Object, Integer, or Boolean
data type. In addition to this, BCD elements are limited by their class type. Library elements
can be applied to all boot environment applications; application elements can be
applied only to specific application class types; and device elements can be applied only
to device objects.
BCD Modification Methods
As fun as it was describing the BCD architecture and explaining the technical nuances of
each component, I??™ll bet you have this burning question in your mind. How do I actually
manipulate the BCD? You can manipulate the BCD in four ways, as shown in Table 1-7.
Using BCDEdit
Since this tool is critical to the manipulation of BCD data, you should take the time to understand
it. As with all command-line tools, the best way to learn about available command
switches and general functionality is by running it with the /? switch to display
the help screen for the command and, in this case, the primary switches the tool supports.
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