Custom Bootstrap Actions in Windows Vista

Download Custom Bootstrap Actions in Windows Vista OEMBoot_Vista.doc 210 KB Microsoft Word file Updated: Sep 22, 2006 Get Office File Viewers

Reviewed July 8, 2008

On systems that have BIOS firmware, Windows Vista and earlier versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system install an MBR during setup of the operating system. For earlier versions of Windows, some system manufacturers provide diagnostic and recovery applications in the pre-operating system environment by installing an OEM-specific MBR to "hook" the boot process.

For Windows Vista, an OEM-specific MBR can interfere with the boot process. An OEM-specific MBR also cannot be cleanly integrated with system recovery, which can cause problems for users.

Windows Vista supports the ability to load and execute a sequence of boot applications in response to a specific keyboard scan code. This paper describes how manufacturers can integrate value-added functionality with the boot and recovery process by adding custom actions to the boot sequence of the Windows Vista boot manager.

This information applies for the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system.

In this white paper:

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