What’s New with Windows Vista Startup

Several aspects of the Windows Vista startup process have changed when compared to Windows XP. Most significantly, Ntldr (the Windows XP component that displayed the boot menu and loaded the Windows XP kernel) has been replaced by the Windows Boot Manager and the Windows Boot Loader. The Boot.ini file (a file that contains entries describing the available boot options) has been replaced by the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) registry file. Ntdetect.com functionality has been merged into the kernel, and Windows Vista no longer supports hardware profiles. In fact, hardware profiles are no longer required: Windows Vista will automatically detect different hardware configurations without requiring administrators ...

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