Installing Windows 8 of UEFI systems. From Microsoft Tecnical document

Hey all,
Some info for you that I received from Microsoft regarding a clean install of windows 8 pro on an Asus N76VZ.

I managed to sort my issue out by
1. Enabling launch CSM
2. Set Secure boot control to disabled.

I was able to install a clean copy of win8 pro via BDROM.

Microsoft contacted me earlier today to follow up on the issue, I explained what I did and they documented it.
Then the guy said he will provide me with a technical document to install windows 8 on WEFI systems.

If it's been posted before please delete the thread, but after a week of trying to solve this issue didn't come across this.

Copy and paste from the email.

Installing Windows on UEFI Systems

June 13, 2012

Abstract

The Windows operating system supports Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)-based platforms. This paper provides guidelines for system manufacturers and IT administrators to prepare and install Windows on UEFI-based computers by using either of the following tools:
Windows Setup
Windows deployment tools, such as the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK), the Windows OEM Preinstallation Kit (Windows OPK), or the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK).
To obtain Windows deployment tools, see "Resources" at the end of this paper.

This information applies to the following operating systems:

Windows 8

Windows 7

Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Server 2008

The current version of this paper is maintained on the Web at Installing Windows on UEFI Systems.

Disclaimer: This document is provided "as-is". Information and views expressed in this document, including URL and other Internet website references, may change without notice. Some information relates to pre-released product which may be substantially modified before it's commercially released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here. You bear the risk of using it.

Some examples depicted herein are provided for illustration only and are fictitious. No real association or connection is intended or should be inferred.

This document does not provide you with any legal rights to any intellectual property in any Microsoft product. You may copy and use this document for your internal, reference purposes.

© 2012 Microsoft. All rights reserved.

Document History

Date

Changes

June 13, 2012

Updated document for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012.

Updated final installation procedures to include an initial boot sequence.

August 3, 2011

Updated document for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

July 25, 2008

Updated document to include Windows 7 and better describe the Windows Setup installation procedure.

Changed title to reflect new contents.

May 9, 2007

Originally published as "Imaging Guidelines for Windows Server 2008 R2 on UEFI Systems".

Contents

Contents

Introduction

Installing the Operating System by Using Windows Setup

Preparing the System by Configuring Partitions

Preparing the System to Boot in UEFI Mode

Installing the Software

Creating and Deploying a Windows Image

Resources

Appendix A: BCD System Store Settings for UEFI

Windows Boot Manager Settings for UEFI

Device Setting

Path Setting

Other Settings

Windows Boot Loader Settings

Device and OSDevice Settings

Path Setting

Windows Memory Tester Settings

Device Setting

Path Setting

Appendix B: Clearing Duplicate Firmware Objects in BCD and NVRAM

Introduction

The Windows operating system includes the following support for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)-based computers:
Disk partitions support the GUID partition table (GPT) disk format.
Windows Setup can initialize the system's hard disk drive to use the GPT format and create a system partition, which is also known as the EFI system partition (ESP).

Note: The term EFI is often used synonymously with UEFI. EFI refers to Extensible Firmware Interface, which is a predecessor to UEFI.
The system can install and service boot environment files on the system partition. These files include the Windows Boot Manager file, the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) file, and related font files.
The system includes EFI versions of the Windows Boot Manager and Windows Resume from Hibernate boot applications.
The system automatically manages nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM) boot entries that reference the partition that contains Windows Boot Manager.
The system provides backup support for the system partition.
BitLocker Drive Encryption supports UEFI systems.

You can install Windows onto UEFI-based platforms in either of the following ways:
Use Windows Setup to install the operating system on a single UEFI-based computer.
Use the tools in the Windows ADK to create and deploy a Windows image on multiple UEFI-based computers.

Installing the Operating System by Using Windows Setup

Windows Setup provides the simplest way to install Windows on a UEFI-based computer.

Preparing the System by Configuring Partitions

UEFI-based computers use a GPT disk partition format, which is distinct from the reference boot record (MBR) format that is used for BIOS-based systems. UEFI computers require at least three GPT partitions:
A system partition to store the boot applications and other related information
A Microsoft reserved (MSR) partition, which must be located between the system and Windows partitions
A Windows partition

Additional partitions might also be necessary for purposes such as supporting Windows RE and BitLocker. For more information about GPT disks, EFI, and disk partitions, see Understanding Disk Partitions.

You can use Windows Setup to install Windows on any UEFI-compatible computer. If the hard drive that you plan to use already has an existing operating system that uses the MBR disk partition format, you must first delete all partitions on the selected hard drive, and then convert the drive to the GPT disk partition format.

To convert the drive:
1.Boot the computer in the Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE).
2.Open a Command Prompt window, and then type the following Diskpart commands.

diskpart

select disk 0

clean

convert gpt

If the hard drive that you plan to use is empty, you can create the GPT partitions by using Windows Setup. If you select the default partition layout, Windows Setup automatically creates the Windows RE Tools, System, MSR, and Windows partitions before it installs Windows, as shown in the following table.

Default UEFI Partitions

Partition

Size

Type

Format

Windows RE Tools

300 megabytes (MB)

Primary

NTFS file system

System

100 MB

EFI

FAT32 file system

MSR

128 MB

MSR

Windows

Available disk size

Primary

NTFS file system

To automate Windows Setup, create an answer file by using Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM). Then, add the following settings in the Microsoft-Windows-Setup component to set up the system, MSR, and Windows partitions.

<DiskConfiguration>

<Disk wcm:action="add">

<DiskID>0</DiskID>

<WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk>

<CreatePartitions>



<CreatePartition wcm:action="add">

<Order>1</Order>

<Type>Primary</Type>

<Size>300</Size>

</CreatePartition>



<CreatePartition wcm:action="add">

<Order>2</Order>

<Type>EFI</Type>

<Size>100</Size>



</CreatePartition>



<CreatePartition wcm:action="add">

<Order>3</Order>

<Type>MSR</Type>

<Size>128</Size>

</CreatePartition>



<CreatePartition wcm:action="add">

<Order>4</Order>

<Type>Primary</Type>

<Extend>true</Extend>

</CreatePartition>

</CreatePartitions>

<ModifyPartitions>



<ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">

<Order>1</Order>

<PartitionID>1</PartitionID>

<Label>WINRE</Label>

<Format>NTFS</Format>

</ModifyPartition>



<ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">

<Order>2</Order>

<PartitionID>2</PartitionID>

<Label>System</Label>

<Format>FAT32</Format>

</ModifyPartition>



<Order>3</Order>

<PartitionID>3</PartitionID>



<ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">

<Order>4</Order>

<PartitionID>4</PartitionID>

<Label>Windows</Label>

<Letter>C</Letter>

<Format>NTFS</Format>

</ModifyPartition>

</ModifyPartitions>

</Disk>

<WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>

</DiskConfiguration>

<ImageInstall>

<OSImage>

<InstallTo>

<DiskID>0</DiskID>

<PartitionID>3</PartitionID>

</InstallTo>

</OSImage>

</ImageInstall>

For instructions about how to use Windows SIM to create these partitions, see Create UEFI-Based Hard-Disk Partitions by Using Windows SIM.

Preparing the System to Boot in UEFI Mode

When you are installing Windows, you may need to explicitly instruct the computer to boot in UEFI mode.

Some UEFI platforms support booting in BIOS mode, and it is not always apparent whether UEFI or BIOS is the default boot option. If you do not explicitly instruct the computer to boot in UEFI mode, Windows Setup might install Windows in BIOS mode. This would not give you the advantages of UEFI.

Installing the Software

Different UEFI firmware implementations support different methods for handling the installation operation.

To install the software for UEFI firmware based primarily on the Intel TianoCore framework

1. Insert the installation DVD and restart the computer.

2. When the firmware starts to initialize, press F10, and then open the menu for the UEFI firmware boot device.

3. Select an EFI drive, such as EFI DVD/CD Drive, EFI USB Drive, or EFI Network Drive. You may be immediately prompted to press a key to boot from the drive.

Note: On some computers, you may need to manually select the boot files. For example, select Boot from file, and then browse to the boot file (\EFI\Boot\BootX64.efi) on your boot device.

If the computer does not have an option to boot from an EFI drive, you may be able to boot from the firmware shell.

To boot from the firmware shell
1.Start the EFI internal shell from the EFI boot menu, and then select the drive that contains the Windows product DVD or Windows PE. The following example assumes that the DVD drive is Fs0.

Shell> Fs0:

2.Start the EFI boot application. There are separate applications for x64 and Intel Itanium systems. For an x64 system, run the following command:

fs0:> \EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI

For an Intel Itanium system (Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2008 only), run the following command:

Fs0:\EFI\BOOT\BOOTIA64.EFI

3.After the application starts, the system displays the following message.

Press any key to boot from CD or DVD.

Press a key to continue booting from the installation media.

After the installation is complete, you can verify that Windows used the EFI boot environment by running the Diskpart tool. You can use the following commands to verify that the disk partition table uses the GPT format and that the system and MSR partitions are present.

diskpart

list disk

select disk 0

list partition

Creating and Deploying a Windows Image

You can simplify installing Windows on multiple UEFI-based computers by using the Windows ADK tools to create and deploy a custom Windows image.

To use the Windows ADK tools to create and deploy a customized Windows image, you must have the following systems:
A technician computer.

You install the Windows ADK tools, including Windows SIM, on the technician computer.
A UEFI-compatible reference computer.

You create a reference installation by installing and customizing the selected Windows version on this computer. You then use image-capturing tools, such as the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool, to create an image of the reference installation for deployment.
One or more UEFI-compatible destination computers.

You use Windows PE and the DISM tool to deploy the customized Windows image to the destination computers.

To create an image of the disk partitions
1.Use Windows SIM on the technician computer to create an answer file that contains the details of your reference installation. For information about how to create an answer file, see the Windows ADK documentation. Save the file to a DVD or other portable media.
2.Prepare a reference installation by installing the appropriate version of Windows with UEFI support on the reference computer and customizing the installation as required.
3.Generalize the computer. For example, at a command prompt, type the following command.

Sysprep /generalize /OOBE /shutdown

For more information, see Prepare to Capture an Image for Deployment (Generalize).
4.Capture an image of the Windows partition on the reference installation for deployment to the destination computers. For example, you can use Windows PE and either DISM or ImageX to capture the images.

For Windows PE 4.0, you can use DISM commands to capture and apply images.

For Windows PE 2.x and 3.0, you can use ImageX to capture and apply images.

At the Windows PE command prompt, type the following command.

DISM:

Dism /Capture-Image /CaptureDir :\ /ImageFile:n:\images\my-windows-partition.wim /Name:"Windows Server 8"

ImageX:

imagex /capture D: n:\images\my-windows-partition.wim "Windows Server 2008 R2"

For more information, see How to Configure UEFI/GPT-Based Hard Disk Partitions.

To deploy the image
1.Boot Windows PE on the destination computers by using the UEFI boot option, as described in "Preparing the System by Switching to UEFI Mode" in this paper. The remainder of this procedure uses the Windows PE Command Prompt window.
2.Create partitions on the destination computers.

The following Diskpart commands create the recommended UEFI partition structure. The structure includes a system, MSR, and Windows partition, in addition to recovery image partitions.

diskpart

rem == These commands are used with DiskPart to

rem erase the drive and create five partitions

rem for a UEFI/GPT-based computer.

rem Adjust the partition sizes to fill the drive

rem as necessary. ==

select disk 0

clean

convert gpt

rem == 1. Windows RE tools partition ===============

create partition primary size=300

format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows RE tools"

set id='de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac'

assign letter="T"

rem == 2. System partition =========================

create partition efi size=100

rem ** NOTE: For 4KB-per-sector drives, change this

rem value to 260 **

format quick fs=fat32 label="System"

assign letter="S"

rem == 3. Microsoft Reserved (MSR) partition =======

create partition msr size=128

rem == 4. Windows partition ========================

rem == a. Create the Windows partition ==========

create partition primary

rem == b. Create space for the recovery image ===

shrink minimum=15000

rem == c. Prepare the Windows partition =========

format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows"

assign letter="W"

rem === 5. Recovery image partition ================

create partition primary

format quick fs=ntfs label="Recovery image"

assign letter="R"

list volume

exit

3.Apply the Windows system image to the destination computers' Windows system partition by using DISM or ImageX.
DISM:

Dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:n:\images\my-windows-partition.wim /Index:1 /ApplyDir:W:\

ImageX:

imagex /apply n:\images\my-windows-partition.wim 1 W:\
4.Copy the boot files to the system partition.

W:\Windows\System32\bcdboot W:\Windows /s S: /f all

For more information, see How to Configure UEFI/GPT-Based Hard Disk Partitions.
5.Remove the Windows PE media, and then reboot the destination computers. Allow the destination computers to complete initial configuration tasks, such as configuring hardware devices and applying pending updates.
6.When Windows Welcome appears, turn off the computer by holding down the power button for more than five seconds.
7.Boot the computers again by using the Windows PE media.
8.Use Diskpart to temporarily reassign the drive letters.

The following Diskpart commands reassign the drive letters.

diskpart

select disk 0

select partition 1

assign letter="T"

select partition 2

assign letter="S"

select partition 4

assign letter="W"

select partition 5

assign letter="R"

list volume

exit
9.Capture the recovery image to the recovery partition. You can use either DISM or ImageX to capture the image.
DISM:

md R:\RecoveryImage

Dism /Capture-Image /CaptureDir:W:\ /ImageFile:R:\RecoveryImage\install.wim /Name:"Recovery image"

ImageX:

md R:\RecoveryImage

imagex /capture W: R:\RecoveryImage\install.wim "Recovery image"
10.Copy the Windows RE tools to the Windows RE tools partition.

md T:\Recovery\WindowsRE

copy W:\windows\system32\recovery\winre.wim T:\Recovery\WindowsRE\winre.wim
11.Register the locations of the Recovery image.

W:\Windows\System32\reagentc /setreimage /path T:\Recovery\WindowsRE /target W:\Windows

W:\Windows\System32\reagentc /setosimage /path R:\RecoveryImage /target W:\Windows /index 1

rem == Report the status of the Windows RE locations ==

W:\Windows\System32\Reagentc /info /target W:
12.Use Diskpart to hide the drive letters of the recovery partitions.

diskpart

select disk 0

select partition 1

remove

set id=de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac

gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001

select partition 5

remove

set id=ebd0a0a2-b9e5-4433-87c0-68b6b72699c7

gpt attributes=0x0000000000000001

list volume

exit
13.Remove the Windows PE media, and then shut down the computers. To do this, either hold the power button for 5 full seconds, or use the following command.

wpeutil shutdown

The system is now ready to be distributed to an end user.

Resources

Deployment Tools for Windows 8 and Windows Server 8

Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit

Download Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) for Windows® 8 from Official Microsoft Download Center

Deployment Tools for Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2008

Windows OEM Preinstallation Kits (Windows OPK)

Microsoft OEM Partner Center

Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK)

Download Windows® AIK for Windows® 7 from Official Microsoft Download Center

Other resources

BCDEdit Commands for Boot Environment

BCDEdit Commands for Boot Environment

Boot Configuration Data in Windows Vista

Boot Configuration Data in Windows Vista

How Basic Disks and Volumes Work (TechNet)

How Basic Disks and Volumes Work: Storage Services

How to Configure UEFI/GPT-Based Hard Disk Partitions

How to Configure UEFI/GPT-Based Hard Drive Partitions

UEFI Support and Requirements for Windows Operating Systems

UEFI Support and Requirements for Windows Operating Systems

UEFI information and resources in the Windows Hardware Development Center (WHDC)

Firmware and Boot Environment

Windows and GPT FAQ (WHDC)

Windows and GPT FAQ

Appendix A: BCD System Store Settings for UEFI

For a typical deployment scenario, you do not need to modify the BCD store.

This section discusses the various BCD settings in the BCD store that you can modify. On UEFI systems, this includes settings for the following boot applications:
Windows Boot Manager
The Windows boot loader
Windows Resume from Hibernate
Windows Memory Tester

The following sections describe the available settings for each of these boot applications in detail and how to modify each application for UEFI systems.

Note: For simplicity, the BCDEdit examples in this section modify the BCD system store. To modify another store, such as a copy of the BCD-template, include the store name in the command line.

Windows Boot Manager Settings for UEFI

Windows Boot Manager ({bootmgr}) manages the boot process. UEFI-based systems contain a firmware boot manager, Bootmgfw.efi, that loads an EFI application that is based on variables that are stored in NVRAM.

The BCD settings for the device and path elements in Windows Boot Manager indicate the firmware boot manager. The template that is named BCD-template for Windows includes the following settings for Windows Boot Manager.

Windows Boot Manager

--------------------

identifier {bootmgr}

device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume1

path \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi

description Windows Boot Manager

Device Setting

The device element specifies the volume that contains Windows Boot Manager. For UEFI systems, the device element for Windows Boot Manager is set to the system partition volume letter. To determine the correct volume letter, use the Diskpart tool to view the disk partitions. The following example assumes that the system has a single hard drive that has multiple partitions, including a system partition that has been assigned a drive letter of S.

The following Diskpart commands select disk 0 and then list the details of the volumes on that disk, including their drive letters. It shows volume 2 as the system partition.

DISKPART> select disk 0

DISKPART> list volume

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info

---------- --- ------ ----- ---------- ------- --------- ------

Volume 0 D NTFS Partition 103 GB Healthy

Volume 1 C NTFS Partition 49 GB Healthy Boot

Volume 2 S FAT32 Partition 200 MB Healthy System

If the system partition does not have an assigned drive letter, assign one by using the Diskpart assign command. The following example assumes that the system partition is volume 2 and assigns it S as the drive letter.

Diskpart

select disk 0

list volume

select volume 2 // assuming volume 2 is the system partition

assign letter=s

After you have determined the system partition volume, set the device element for Windows Boot Manager to the corresponding drive letter. The following example sets device to drive S.

Bcdedit /set {bootmgr} device partition=s: // system partition

Path Setting

The path element specifies the location of the Windows Boot Manager application on that volume. For UEFI systems, path indicates the firmware boot manager, whose path is \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\Bootmgfw.efi.

You can confirm that BCD-template has the correct path by enumerating the values in the store, as follows.

bcdedit /store bcd-template /enum all

To explicitly set path to \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\Bootmgfw.efi, use the following command.

Bcdedit /set {bootmgr} path \efi\microsoft\boot\bootmgfw.efi

Other Settings

You should set Windows Boot Manager to be the first item in the display order of the EFI firmware, as shown in the following example.

Bcdedit /set {fwbootmgr} displayorder {bootmgr} /addfirst

You should also specify the topmost Windows boot loader application in the Windows Boot Manager display order. The following example shows how to put a specified Windows boot loader at the top of the display order.

Bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displayorder {<GUID>} /addfirst

In the preceding example, <GUID> is the identifier for the specified Windows boot loader object. The next section discusses this identifier in greater detail.

Note: A multiboot system that has multiple installed operating systems has multiple instances of the Windows boot loader. Each instance of the Windows boot loader has its own identifier. You can set the default Windows boot loader ({default}) to any of these identifiers.

Windows Boot Loader Settings

A BCD store has at least one instance, and optionally multiple instances, of the Windows boot loader. A separate BCD object represents each instance. Each instance loads one of the installed versions of Windows that has a configuration that the object's elements have specified. Each Windows boot loader object has its own identifier, and the object's device and path settings indicate the correct partition and boot application.

BCD-template for Windows has a single Windows boot loader object that has the following settings.

Windows Boot Loader

-------------------

identifier {9f25ee7a-e7b7-11db-94b5-f7e662935912}

device partition=C:

path \Windows\system32\winload.efi

description Microsoft Windows Server 8

locale en-US

inherit {bootloadersettings}

osdevice partition=C:

systemroot \Windows

The identifier for this Windows boot loader is {9f25ee7a-e7b7-11db-94b5-f7e662935912}. You can use this GUID on your system or let the BCDEdit tool generate a new GUID for you.

To simplify BCDEdit commands, you can specify one of the Windows boot loaders in the BCD system store as the default loader. You can then use the standard identifier ({default}) in place of the full GUID.

The following example specifies the Windows boot loader for EFI as the default boot loader, assuming that it uses the identifier GUID from BCD-template.

Bcdedit /default {9f25ee7a-e7b7-11db-94b5-f7e662935912}

Device and OSDevice Settings

The following elements specify key locations:
The device element specifies the partition that contains the boot application.
The osdevice element specifies the partition that contains the system root.

For the Windows boot loader for EFI, both elements are usually set to the drive letter of the Windows system partition. However, if BitLocker is enabled or a computer has multiple installed versions of Windows, osdevice and device might be set to different partitions.

BCD-template sets both elements to drive C, which is the typical value. You can also explicitly set the device and osdevice values, as shown in the following example. The example also assumes that you have specified the Windows boot loader for EFI as the default boot-loader object.

Bcdedit /set {default} device partition=c:

Bcdedit /set {default} osdevice partition=c:

Path Setting

The path element of a Windows boot loader specifies the location of the boot loader on that volume. For UEFI systems, path indicates the Windows boot loader for EFI, whose path is \Windows\System32\Winload.efi.

You can confirm that BCD-template has the correct path value by enumerating the values in the store. You can also explicitly set the path value, as shown in the following example.

Bcdedit /set {default} path \windows\system32\winload.efi

Windows Memory Tester Settings

The Windows memory tester ({memdiag}) runs memory diagnostics at boot time. The BCD settings for the application's device and path elements indicate the correct application.

Note: Intel Itanium computers do not include a Windows memory tester and do not require {memdiag} settings.

BCD-template for Windows has the following settings.

Windows Memory Tester

---------------------

identifier {memdiag}

device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume1

path \boot\memtest.exe

description Windows Memory Diagnostic

Device Setting

For UEFI systems, the device element for the Windows memory tester is set to the system partition drive letter. The following example assumes that the system partition is drive S, as used in earlier examples.

Bcdedit /set {bootmgr} device partition=s: // system partition

Path Setting

The path element specifies the location of Windows Test Manager on the volume that the device element has specified. For UEFI systems, path indicates the EFI version of the application (\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\Memtest.efi).

You can confirm that BCD-template has the correct path value by enumerating the values in the store. You can also use the BCDEdit tool to explicitly set the path value, as shown in the following example.

Bcdedit /set {memdiag} path \efi\microsoft\boot\memtest.efi

Appendix B: Clearing Duplicate Firmware Objects in BCD and NVRAM

On some UEFI systems, the firmware creates NVRAM entries for local devices such as CD-ROM drives or hard drives when the devices are turned on. When you run commands such as bcdedit /set or bcdedit /enum, the BCDEdit tool opens the BCD system store and compares the firmware namespace objects in NVRAM with the corresponding objects in the store. If any firmware namespace objects do not exist in the BCD system store, BCDEdit creates appropriate objects and adds them to the store.

When BCDEdit closes the BCD system store, it compares the firmware namespace objects in the store with the objects in NVRAM. If any of the BCD objects do not exist in NVRAM, BCDEdit creates appropriate NVRAM entries.

If you run bcdedit /import, BCDEdit adds copies of all firmware namespace objects in the BCD system store to NVRAM. If you run bcdedit /import multiple times, the system's NVRAM might eventually contain multiple duplicate entries for devices such as the CD-ROM and hard disk drives.

To determine whether your system has duplicate NVRAM entries, run the following BCDEdit command, which enumerates the firmware namespace objects in the BCD system store.

Bcdedit /enum firmware

The following example is similar to the output from the bcdedit /enum firmware command.

Firmware Boot Manager

---------------------

identifier {fwbootmgr}

displayorder {bootmgr}

{93cee840-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

{93cee841-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

{93cee842-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

{93cee844-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

{93cee843-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

timeout 2

Windows Boot Manager

--------------------

identifier {bootmgr}

device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume1

path \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi

description Windows Boot Manager

locale en-US

inherit {globalsettings}

default {current}

displayorder {current}

toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}

timeout 30

Firmware Application (101fffff)

-------------------------------

identifier {93cee840-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

description Primary Reference CDROM

Firmware Application (101fffff)

-------------------------------

identifier {93cee841-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

description Harddisk 4

Firmware Application (101fffff)

-------------------------------

identifier {93cee842-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

description Internal EFI Shell

Firmware Application (101fffff)

-------------------------------

identifier {93cee843-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

description Floppy

Firmware Application (101fffff)

-------------------------------

identifier {93cee844-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

description Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(1F|1)/Ata(Primary,Reference)/CDROM(Entry1)

The following example resembles the way that the bcdedit /enum output might appear for a system that has multiple entries.

Firmware Boot Manager

---------------------

identifier {fwbootmgr}

displayorder {bootmgr}

{93cee840-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

{93cee841-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

{93cee842-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

{93cee844-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

{93cee843-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

{8b87c5a0-f2f2-11db-9717-f87ee6ea6002}

{8b87c5a1-f2f2-11db-9717-f87ee6ea6002}

{8b87c5a2-f2f2-11db-9717-f87ee6ea6002}

{8b87c5a3-f2f2-11db-9717-f87ee6ea6002}

{8b87c5a4-f2f2-11db-9717-f87ee6ea6002}

timeout 2

Firmware Application (101fffff)

-------------------------------

identifier {93cee840-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

description Primary Reference CDROM

Firmware Application (101fffff)

-------------------------------

identifier {8b87c5a0-f2f2-11db-9717-f87ee6ea6002}

description Primary Reference CDROM

...

The BCD system store in this example has duplicate firmware namespace objects for its devices. One set of objects has identifiers that start with 93, and the duplicate set has identifiers that start with 8b. The example shows the details for the primary reference CD-ROM.

You can use the BCDEdit tool to remove duplicate entries from NVRAM and the BCD system store. The operation requires a series of BCDEdit commands, so you might find it useful to create a command script that uses the correct object identifiers for the multiple object entries that you want to remove.

To remove duplicate entries

1. Save a copy of the current BCD system store by running the following command.

bcdedit /export Newbcd

2. Make another backup of the system store.

copy Newbcd bcdbackup

3. Enumerate the firmware namespace objects in the BCD system store, and then save the output to a text file.

bcdedit /enum firmware > enumfw.txt

4. Open the Enumfw.txt file in Notepad, and then delete everything except the list of firmware GUIDs.

5. Save the edited Enumfw.txt file to a new command file that you name Removedups.cmd.

6. Insert the following BCDEdit command in front of each identifier in the Removedups.cmd file.

Bcdedit /store newbcd /delete

This command deletes all the duplicate firmware IDs. For the example that this procedure uses, the Removedups.cmd file resembles the following example.

bcdedit /store newbcd /delete {93cee840-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

bcdedit /store newbcd /delete {93cee841-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

bcdedit /store newbcd /delete {93cee842-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

bcdedit /store newbcd /delete {93cee843-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

bcdedit /store newbcd /delete {93cee844-f524-11db-af62-aa767141e6b3}

bcdedit /store newbcd /delete {8b87c5a0-f2f2-11db-9717-f87ee6ea6002}

bcdedit /store newbcd /delete {8b87c5a1-f2f2-11db-9717-f87ee6ea6002}

bcdedit /store newbcd /delete {8b87c5a2-f2f2-11db-9717-f87ee6ea6002}

bcdedit /store newbcd /delete {8b87c5a3-f2f2-11db-9717-f87ee6ea6002}

bcdedit /store newbcd /delete {8b87c5a4-f2f2-11db-9717-f87ee6ea6002}

Note: On systems where the EFI firmware initializes NVRAM entries for local devices, delete all GUID entries for firmware namespace objects, but do not delete the {bootmgr} entry.

7. Add the following command to the end of the Removedups.cmd file, and then save the file.

bcdedit /import newbcd /clean

The /import /clean option deletes all NVRAM entries and then re-initializes NVRAM based on the firmware namespace objects in the Newbcd BCD store.

8. Run the Removedups.cmd file. This removes the duplicate entries from the Newbcd store, reinitializes NVRAM, and imports Newbcd into the BCD system store.

9. Reboot the system.

During the reboot, the EFI firmware reinitializes the NVRAM by using the firmware object GUIDs that correspond to the attached devices.

10. Use bcdedit /enum firmware to verify that all duplicate firmware namespace objects have been removed.

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