Documentation strangeness and a question

DWalker07

Member
On page http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Recovering+the+Windows+Bootloader+with+EasyBCD, there are three methods or "Types" that are suggested to recover the bootloader.

Type 1 says Solution:

Run EasyBCD and go to the "Bootloader Setup" window:

and there's a screenshot. Since the button is now labeled "BCD Deployment", the text is confusing. If the screenshot is right, and the text is wrong, please fix the text to match the window.

Type 2 and type 3 show the old button in the screenshot, so in types 2 and 3, the screenshots need to be updated to match the program.

In Type 3, it would be much clearer if the "Re-create/repair boot files" radio button was selected in the screenshot, since that's what the text says to do.

Finally, a question: What is the difference between selecting "BCD Backup/Repair" then either "Reset BCD Configuration" or "Recreate-Repair boot files", versus selecting "BCD Deployment" then "Install the Windows Vista/7 Bootloader" and clicking "Write MBR"? The documentation is not clear on the difference. There are three methods there, and it's not clear what all three methods do. In particular, "re-create/repair boot files" sounds functionally the same as "Install the Windows Vista/7 bootloader to the MBR".

As a computer programmer, I would like to understand the differences. Thanks.

David Walker
 
The devil is in the details.

  1. "Reset BCD Configuration" only affects the BOOT/BCD file and resets it to a blank state, plus writes the boot code to the MBR.
  2. "Install Windows Vista/7 Bootloader" only writes to the MBR (as the text says) and does not touch any files or configurations. Think of it as flipping a switch to choose which bootloader is used. No more, no less.
  3. "Re-Create/Repair Boot Files" resets the BCD and MBR (as #1) but also re-creates any bootloader files (BOOTMGR, locales, etc).
 
That is a great explanation. I wish the online documentation said the same thing!

I also hope the incorrect screenshots and text in the online doc will get fixed.

Thank you.
 
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