Edit Boot Menu Option in Windows 8, Windows 7 & XP
Windows allows users to edit the current boot menu by altering the booting options listed in it. There are different methods to alter it and it is important to note that different Microsoft OS versions use different methods to edit it. This tutorial explains how to edit the boot menu on Windows 8, Windows 7 and XP computers. At the end of this tutorial, you will learn how to disable Boot Loader by selecting a default OS.
Here let us check how to add a new entry in Windows 8 computer. The same procedure can be followed for Windows 7 and Vista computers.
While booting a computer we can see a menu to select the Operating System to choose from a list of installed Operating SytmsS. Have you ever wonder where this information is saved? Boot.ini is the file where Windows stores the details of these options and OS menu. If we need to change any settings on this menu we need to edit the boot.ini file. To edit this file, follow the steps below.
We can disable it without going to boot.ini file. To disable default boot menu option in Windows XP, follow the steps below.
In this tutorial, you have learned how to edit the boot.ini file on a computer running with Microsoft OS. If you ever wonder how to put the same picture for all user accounts, follow the steps mentioned in the link below.
Default User Login Picture to all users
You see accessing and editing the boot.ini file in Windows is not a difficult task. Similarly, if you want to access the service window, you can follow the steps mentioned in the link below.
Different Methods to Access Service Window On Your Computer
How to Edit Boot Option In Windows XP
- Right click on my computer
- Click Properties
- Click Advanced
- Click Settings button near Startup and Recovery
- Click Edit and make necessary changes in the notepad which shows the current booting sequence and option
Change Boot Entry In Windows 7 and Windows 8
Here let us check how to add a new entry in Windows 8 computer. The same procedure can be followed for Windows 7 and Vista computers.
- Open Command Prompt in Run as Administrator mode
To open the command prompt in administrative mode, right click on Command prompt and select the option Run as administrator. To learn more about this step, visit the link below.
The requested operation requires elevation(Run as administrator)
- How to View Windows Boot Loader
Type the command bcdedit and press enter
Note the equivalent value displayed here [{e2b1507b-eddc-11de-90a9-beb27b9d4437}] and use that value for your laptop.
- Command to Copy Current Boot Entry
Type bcdedit /copy {current} /d "DebugEntry" and press enter.
- Command to Remove an Entry
If you do not want additional Operating System entries while starting your PC, you can delete unwanted entries from Command Prompt. DOS Command to delete unwanted entry is:
bcdedit /delete {e2b1507b-eddc-11de-90a9-beb27b9d4437}
While booting a computer we can see a menu to select the Operating System to choose from a list of installed Operating SytmsS. Have you ever wonder where this information is saved? Boot.ini is the file where Windows stores the details of these options and OS menu. If we need to change any settings on this menu we need to edit the boot.ini file. To edit this file, follow the steps below.
Steps to Edit Boot.ini
- Click on the Windows Start menu and go to the Run/Search
- Type msconfig and press OK. Now System Configuration Utility Window will be opened where we can change the boot.ini settings.
- Click on the Boot.ini tab
Now you can change the settings in the boot.ini file such as setting the default Operating System, Set the show time to pick an Operating system, check all OS starting paths etc.
How to Disable the Windows Boot Menu Option
We can disable it without going to boot.ini file. To disable default boot menu option in Windows XP, follow the steps below.
- Right click on My Computer icon and click on Properties
- Click on Advanced tab
- Click on the Settings button under Startup and Recovery
- Select Default OS
Now you can select the default OS from the list of installed Operating Systems on your computer. After selecting the default Operating System we should set the Time to Display list of Operating Systems to 0 seconds. Now we need to click on OK.
- Reboot Your Computer
On next reboot onwards you will not see the list of all installed OS in your PC. We will directly log on to the default OS which we set here.
In this tutorial, you have learned how to edit the boot.ini file on a computer running with Microsoft OS. If you ever wonder how to put the same picture for all user accounts, follow the steps mentioned in the link below.
Default User Login Picture to all users
You see accessing and editing the boot.ini file in Windows is not a difficult task. Similarly, if you want to access the service window, you can follow the steps mentioned in the link below.
Different Methods to Access Service Window On Your Computer