Tag: boot_process

Start Windows XP a Little Faster

July 24, 2007 by Jason

The Windows XP logo that shows up during the boot process (called the “splash screen”) can be nice to look at, but it does slow your computer down slightly. Disabling this splash screen can help you boot up a little faster.

Follow these simple steps to disable the Windows XP splash screen using the System Configuration Utility, sometimes referred to as msconfig.

Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: Disabling the Windows XP splash screen usually takes less than 5 minutes.
Here’s How: Read More»

Faster Dual Boot Timeout

June 09, 2007 by Jason

If you dual boot your PC using Windows XP’s dual boot process, you can reduce the timeout period your PC uses before booting to the default OS. This tweak is useful if you boot to the default OS most of the time and only boot to the other OS’s on a limited basis.

1)Locate and Open the hidden file “boot.ini” in notepad or your favorite text editor. This file will likely be in the root directory on the boot partition of your “master” HD. For example, mine is located in “C:\boot.ini” even though I have Win98 loaded on this partition and the boot.ini file was generated when I loaded WinXP on “D:/” Read More»

Speeding Up the Dual-Boot Timeout

January 25, 2007 by Jason

If you dual-boot your computer with Windows XP and another operating system, you see an operating system selection menu on startup. If you typically boot into Windows XP and not the other operating system, you can speed up the dual-boot timeout value so that you do not wait so long for the boot process to select your default operating system and continue with the boot process. The default timeout value is 30 seconds but you can change this setting to 10. This gives you enough time to select the alternate operating system if you want but also speeds up the boot process. You can skip this section if you do not use a dual-boot configuration.
Follow these steps:
1. Locate the boot.ini file on your computer. It is a hidden file by default; mine is located in C:\boot.ini.
2. Open the file with Notepad (which is what opens it by default).
3. Change the Timeout value to 10 (see Figure 4-11).
4. Select File/Save and close Notepad.