Removing older BOOT entries (Windows Version)

To all the frequent format geeks and OS swappers who can’t keep their hands from installing a new OS for fun….

The Bootloader dilemma

So for those of us who have installed more than one Operating System and have diverted from using the default OS (Windows or the other) in most cases would have to face a menu very much like the one above. Each time you have to select the option for the OS to boot into or let the system choose one itself when the timer runs outs.

This screen is known as the bootloader as it shows all the boot options i.e. different Operating systems to choose from for loading on startup.

This is fine to the point where you keep on installing and removing different OS multiple times. But once you remove such a System, its entry on the bootloader may not be deleted and will remain there until you clean out your entire hard drive or dive deep into the UEFI boot files (COMPLICATED!!!)

You can learn more about how the bootloader works and dive deeper into its related terminology here and/or booting in general right here: Article on Booting

The Solution (for Windows users)

If you are a windows user and have administrative access, then the process to remove any boot entry is pretty simple.

Steps

1. Open the command prompt (cmd) from the start menu and select the “Run as Administrator” option

2. Now with the cmd window open, type the following command:

bcdedit /enum firmware

You thus have a list of all firmware applications which includes all bootloader entries for all older and current OS.

3. To remove the specific entry from the boot option, look for their matching description and note down their identifier with { }. For example: for ubuntu, you will select the identifier {575a1f59–45b7–11ea-9322–806e6f6e6963}

4. Finally, use the identifier with the following command to delete its entry

bcedit delete {575a1f59–45b7–11ea-9322–806e6f6e6963}

If you get the successful operation message, then all is done and you can go about minding your business and rampaging your system.

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