How to Enable or Disable Windows Boot Manager in Windows 10?

What Is Windows Boot Manager?

If you want to disable the Boot Manager, it’s important to understand why you need it and what it does. In this article, we will go over what a Windows Boot Manager is and how to disable it if you no longer need it.

The Windows Boot Manager is responsible for starting or booting your PC by reading data from the hard drive when you turn on your computer. It first checks if the system contains an operating system and then looks for the information that it needs to start up your machine. Once it has found all of the required data, it executes the instructions stored in the bootloader and starts the operating system.

In addition to starting up your PC, the Boot Manager can also be used to boot different devices like CD/DVD drives, USB drives, or floppy drives apart from the operating system itself. This feature can be useful if you need to run a repair or recovery utility from an external drive.

If you no longer need the Windows Boot Manager or if you need to disable it for any reason, you can do this by following a few simple steps. First, press “Win” + “R” key to open “Run” command box. Then type in sysdm.cpl and click “OK”. When the “System Properties” pops up, select “Advanced” option and click “Settings” under “Startup and Recovery”. Next, check the box “Time to display list of operating systems” and set the time value or uncheck the box if you want to disable Windows Boot Manager. Finally, click “OK” to save changes.

How to Enable or Disable Windows Boot Manager in Windows 10?

Solution 1: Using Command Line to Enable or disable Windows Boot Manager

This way requires administrator privilege to perform. If you don’t have an administrator account, it’s recommended to use Renee PassNow to create it before taking the steps below.

Note: Timeout determines how long the boot manager is displayed. You can specify the timeout value in seconds according to your requirement.

Solution 2: Enable or Disable Windows Boot Manager via System Properties

How to Add or Remove Operating System in Windows Boot Manager?

Generally, system is automatically added after installing it. Or you can add it manually with method below. Please note that this solution requires administrator privilege to perform. If you don’t have an administrator account, it’s recommended to use Renee PassNow to create it.

Here are how to add Windows XP to Windows 7/10 Boot Manager.

• bcdedit /create {ntldr} /d “Windows XP”

Note: The value “Windows XP” can be replaced with another system that you want to add.

• bcdedit /set {ntldr} device partition=C:

Note: Here C: means that the system locates in C: drive. Please fill in the drive letter of the partition where you installed your Windows.

• bcdedit /set {ntldr} path \ntldr
• bcdedit /set {ntldr} description “Windows XP”  

Note: The value “Windows XP” can be replaced with another system that you want to add.

Next, use the following solution to remove system in Windows Boot Manager if needed.

Similarly, this solution requires administrator privilege to perform. If you don’t have an administrator account, it’s suggested to use Renee Passnow to create it.

How to Fix Windows Boot Manager?

1. Boot Configuration Data. It is stored at BCD file. If there’s any problem with this file, the blue screen error (0xc000000f, 0xc0000225, 0xc0000034) will occur.

2. System files. If there’s problem with the system files such as bootmgr, an error message “Bootmgr is missing” will appear.

Startup Problem

Tips: Read this page for more details to create a bootable USB drive.

System Files Lost/Corrupted