August 2003
Beginner
416 pages
12h 47m
English
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Customize Multiboot Startup Options
Edit or create a startup menu that lets you choose which operating system to boot into in multiboot systems, or create a menu that lets you choose different startup options for your single operating system if you have only XP installed.
If you’ve installed another operating system (in addition to XP) on your system, your PC starts up with a multiboot menu, which allows you to choose which operating system you want to run. The menu stays live for 30 seconds, and a screen countdown tells you how long you have to make a choice from the menu. After the 30 seconds elapse, it boots into your default operating system, which is generally the last operating system you installed.
You can customize that multiboot menu
and how your PC starts by editing the
boot.ini
file, a hidden system file, to control a
variety of startup options, including how long to display the menu,
which operating system should be the default, whether to use the XP
splash screen when XP starts, and similar features. And as
you’ll see later in this hack, you can also use the
file to create a startup menu that will allow you to choose from
different versions of your operating system—for example, one
that you’ll use for tracking down startup problems,
and another for starting in Safe Mode.
The boot.ini file is a plain text file found in
your root C:\ folder. You might not be able to see it, because it’s a system file, and if you can see it, you might not be able to edit it, because it’s ...
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O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.Julian F.
I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.Addison B.
I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.Amir M.
I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.