BCDEdit /debug

The /debug boot option enables or disables kernel debugging of the Windows operating system associated with the specified boot entry or the current boot entry.

Caution

Administrative privileges are required to use BCDEdit to modify BCD. Changing some boot entry options using the BCDEdit command could render your computer inoperable. As an alternative, use the Startup settings in Windows.

Note

Before setting BCDEdit options you might need to disable or suspend BitLocker and Secure Boot on the computer.

bcdedit /debug [{ID}] { on | off }

Parameters

{ID}

The {ID} is the ID that is associated with the boot entry, such as {DEFAULT} for the default OS boot entry. If you do not specify an {ID}, the command modifies the operating system that is currently active. For more information about working with boot entry identifiers, see Boot Options Identifiers.

on
Enables kernel debugging of the specified boot entry. If a boot entry is not specified, kernel debugging is enabled for the current operating system.

off
Disables kernel debugger of the specified boot entry. If a boot entry is not specified, kernel debugging is disabled for the current operating system.

Comments

The /debug boot option enables kernel debugging for a specific boot entry. Use the /dbgsettings option to configure the type of debugging connection to use and the connection parameters. If no /dbgsettings are specified for the boot entry, the global debug settings are used. The default values for the global settings are shown in the following table.

dbgsetting parameter	Default value
debugtype	Local
debugstart	Active
noumex	Yes

The following example enables kernel debugging of the default boot entry.

bcdedit /debug on 

To check the current debugging parameter values, use the BCDEdit /dbgsettings command as shown here.

bcdedit /dbgsettings

For information about Windows debugging tools, see Windows Debugging and Setting Up KDNET Network Kernel Debugging Automatically