Extract text from BCD files
To convert your BCD file to another format, you need Microsoft Windows or other System software.
To convert other file formats to the "Boot Configuration Registry Hive" file type, you need software like Microsoft Windows or a similar tool.
The .BCD file extension poses a unique challenge because it serves two vastly different purposes that often confuse users. Primarily, it is a Windows Boot Configuration Data file, a critical system component introduced in Windows Vista to replace the legacy boot.ini. These are binary registry hives, meaning they are unreadable by standard text editors and cannot be manually edited without specialized command-line tools like Microsoft bcdedit.exe. Users often need to convert these binary configurations into readable TXT or XML reports to diagnose startup failures or document system settings for IT audits.
Alternatively, a .BCD file may be a Business Card Design project created by software like NCH CardWorks or similar layout tools. The frustration here is proprietary lock-in; print shops and colleagues likely cannot open these source files. To make the design usable, you must convert it to a standard PDF for printing or a high-resolution JPG/PNG for web use. Similarly, SAP PowerDesigner uses this extension for Conceptual Data Models, which often need to be converted to SQL scripts or PDF documentation for team review.
Convert.Guru analyzes your BCD file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted EFI, BDC, MCD, TXT, XML, JPG, PDF, AVHDX, DL_, LOG and ASCII files.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our BCD converter.