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It can be confusing to remove multi-boot choices for operating systems that have been removed. We'll walk through the simple process for Windows 7.

I have downloaded the retail version of Windows 7 on my "C" drive, but I am unable to remove the boot choice which previously allowed me to either open the RC Windows 7 on another internal HD, or open the Windows Vista OS on my "C" drive. I did format the other HD, which I now use for backups only. The "Startup and Recovery" pop-up window referred to in your last newsletter, which I looked up, does not provide an option to carry out the "edit". Apart from the other details as per your illustration the "edit" option is simply not shown. Please enlighten me how to otherwise remove this 2nd boot choice.

Yep, things changed (back in Vista, I believe).

The good news is that it's still pretty easy to modify your boot choices.

You just need to drop to the Windows Command prompt - as administrator, of course.

Editing boot choices has become significantly more powerful, but has moved to a command-line tool.

Fire up a Windows Command Prompt, making sure to run it as administrator (right click on the shortcut and select "Run as administrator"):

Command Prompt, run as administrator

In the command prompt, run bcdedit /enum - here's the result from my Windows 7 machine:

bcdedit /enum

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier              {bootmgr}
device                  partition=C:
description             Windows Boot Manager
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {globalsettings}
default                 {current}
resumeobject            {8fe75379-c446-11de-9f1d-ab62aca77990}
displayorder            {current}
toolsdisplayorder       {memdiag}
timeout                 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {current}
device                  partition=C:
path                    \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Windows 7
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence        {8fe7537b-c446-11de-9f1d-ab62aca77990}
recoveryenabled         Yes
osdevice                partition=C:
systemroot              \Windows
resumeobject            {8fe75379-c446-11de-9f1d-ab62aca77990}
nx                      OptIn

I've highlighted the identifier "{current}" - each Windows Boot Loader will have its own unique identifier, and that's what you'll use in the next step.

To simply delete one of the boot options, type bcdedit /delete {identifier}, where "identifier" is replaced with the identifier for the boot option you want removed.

For example, if I wanted to remove my current boot option (and in my case render my machine unbootable), I'd enter:

bcdedit /delete {current}

Since "{current}" is the identifier of my one and only boot choice.

And no, I didn't.

But that bringw up a very good point: as you can imagine, used improperly, bcdedit can indeed render your machine unbootable, which can only then be fixed by booting from the Windows 7 install or recovery disk and running repair tools.

And finally, if you're interested in all that bcdedit can do, enter bcdedit /? for a full list of options.

Use it with caution.

Article C3915 - October 30, 2009

Leo Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed. After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.

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Recent Comments
27 Comments

yesss!! thanks to your article, i could get rid of the annoying option which was left after i had installed linux using wubi..and later deleted the files! bt still one problem remains thats waithin fr 30 sec :(

Posted by: jacktheblack at May 24, 2011 7:00 PM

whats wrong with using run msconfig in windows 7? - its much simpler for us nitwits to work with as it opens up a nice window with all the options available and all with the click of a mouse!!!

Posted by: BigEd at June 24, 2011 2:17 AM

Microsoft Corporation has been prompted to integrate a specific troubleshooter with Windows 7 help to counter the issue into its latest Windows 7.. here's another site that will be helpful on this is http://windows7helpdesk.com/windows-7-help-on-firewall-problems-at-startup/ ..

Posted by: Windows 7 Help at November 14, 2011 4:17 AM

Thanks for all your help. You have saved me from at least a couple dozen binds over the years. I really do appreciate it!!!!

Posted by: Mario Salazar at February 10, 2012 9:55 AM

i had three options: bootmgr, default, current.
Default was a drive that was removed, so it was a ghost. I deleted that drive option and was tempted to delete bootmgr too. I decided to restart before doing so and voila! it worked. so if you're tempted to delete bootmgr, DON'T! i'm not sure what will happen if you do. it might break everything!

Posted by: thetrystero at February 15, 2012 8:58 AM
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