Windows Boot Manager

Windows Boot Manager
Other namesBOOTMGR
Developer(s)Microsoft
Operating systemWindows
PredecessorNTLDR
TypeBootloader
LicenseProprietary

The Windows Boot Manager (BOOTMGR) is the bootloader provided by Microsoft for Windows NT versions starting with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. It is the first program launched by the BIOS or UEFI of the computer and is responsible for loading the rest of Windows.[1] It replaced the NTLDR present in older versions of Windows.

The boot sector or UEFI loads the Windows Boot Manager (a file named BOOTMGR on either the system or the boot partition), accesses the Boot Configuration Data store and uses the information to load the operating system through winload.exe or winresume.exe.[2]

  1. ^ barrygolden. "Boot and UEFI - Windows drivers". learn.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  2. ^ de Boyne Pollard, Jonathan. "The Windows NT 6 boot process". Frequently Given Answers. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016.