Windows 11 (unlike Windows 10) by default installs to EFI partition. I found out the hard way, only use bcdboot.exe for reinstalling the Microsoft Windows 11 EFI partition and Microsoft Windows 11 relevant contents into the EFI partition. If I'm not mistaken, bcdboot will automatically call the relevant EFI related parts of "bootrec /scanos" (bootrec.exe), so not needed to run scanos functions. Trying to use MBR bootrec.exe executable will cause Windows 11 to not boot, and/or display the ugly blue repair screen. (The brief process for deleting and creating the Windows 11 EFI, remove/create the initial FAT32 partition, boot into the Windows 11 repair, use diskpart for creating/finding the EFI FAT32 partition and assigning a letter if needed, exiting from diskpart and running bcdboot incantation for reinstalling the Windows 11 EFI partition contents. If any other Windows operating system has been installed via the EFI method (not MBR method), this process should automatically create a boot menu for those other Windows EFI bootable operating systems.
Windows 10 and older operating systems, will call for using bootrec.exe, working with and install MBR related functions, again, not compatible with Windows 11. You'll encounter a lot of instructions on the Internet directing for utilizing bootrec.exe in tandem with bcdboot.exe. Another hiccup I ran into, likely Windows 10 can be installed via both, MBR and EFI; or Windows 11 just installs two separate EFI partitions within one drive, likely for MBR/EFI compatibility. Weird. Microsoft only wants and needs you using their latest and greatest operating system! Roger On Fri, Dec 19, 2025 at 7:43 PM Tomas By via Freedos-user <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Sat, 20 Dec 2025 01:31:44 +0100, Karen Lewellen wrote: > > exactly which Linux? > > > Well, I only have recent experience with Ubuntu, but it has worked the > same in all others I have tried, for quite a while now. > > /Tomas > > > _______________________________________________ > Freedos-user mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
