If under various circumstances you had to install a second
Windows OS on the same system, you should have already met the dual boot
option. For those who do not know, the dual boot option appears when
two or more Windows systems reside on the same computer at the same
time. It will pop up before booting the system permitting the user to
select which OS will boot. You can have a look at the multi boot window
in the image..
This option is very useful for those who own computers with older mainboards that do not provide a quick boot selection option.
Newer motherboards have this option by default and whenever two or more operating systems are available, you can simply press an F key which will determine a Bios window to emerge offering you the possibility to select the desired OS to boot.
In case you want to remove one of the OS, you can do it easily and you need not to edit the dual boot option. but just removing the second OS won’t determine the dual boot option to disappear.
It will be still shown before booting although there is just one OS available. This problem is quite unpleasant as everytime your system will go for booting the deleted OS and couldn’t find it.. So it will keep going on looping again and again to boot options..
My advice, in case you want to use only the quick boot option (not the dual boot), is that when you install the second OS, make sure you remove the IDE/SATA cable for the HDD that holds the primary Windows.
Viewing the dual boot option file
Boot.ini is a system file found in the system root. Because it has a major importance for the booting process, Windows developers gave it hidden, system and read-only attributes. Don’t worry though, you can easily view it and even change the attributes by yourself. Just go to My Computer/Windows Explorer > Folder Options > View and check “Show hidden files and folders”.
How to edit Boot.ini
Let’s assume that you have the dual boot option enabled and you got your system crashed losing the second operating system, and you want to get rid of the dual boot option. To do it, you need to edit the Boot.ini which can be done in multiple ways.
Comfortable method to change the “timeout”
When the dual boot option works, you are provided with a timeout in order to select the desired OS. By default, this timeout is 30 sec. If no OS is selected, after 30 seconds, the primary Windows will boot. In case you consider the timeout too high, you can lower it.
Go to Start > Run and type msconfig. Once the system configuration window pops up, you will notice that Boot.ini has its own tab. Select that tab and where you see “timeout,” set it to a lower or higher value.
Remove/Add Operating Systems in the dual boot menu
This is the main issue. How to remove a dual boot option from the menu?
* For windows xp/vista
-Right click on My Computer icon and select Properties.
-From the properties window go to Advanced > Startup and Recovery > Settings.
-Here, you can both edit the timeout value and modify the Boot.ini file by clicking Edit.
If you remove the second operating system from Boot.ini, the dual boot option won’t appear before booting.
* For Windows 7
In Windows 7, the boot.ini file has been replaced with Boot Configuration Data (BCD). This file is more versatile than boot.ini, and it can apply to computer platforms that use means other than basic input/output system (BIOS) to start the computer.
To know how to remove multi boot option in windows 7, read this post
** Don’t forget to backup the file in any situation. It will keep you out of trouble!
njoy computing…..
This option is very useful for those who own computers with older mainboards that do not provide a quick boot selection option.
Newer motherboards have this option by default and whenever two or more operating systems are available, you can simply press an F key which will determine a Bios window to emerge offering you the possibility to select the desired OS to boot.
In case you want to remove one of the OS, you can do it easily and you need not to edit the dual boot option. but just removing the second OS won’t determine the dual boot option to disappear.
It will be still shown before booting although there is just one OS available. This problem is quite unpleasant as everytime your system will go for booting the deleted OS and couldn’t find it.. So it will keep going on looping again and again to boot options..
My advice, in case you want to use only the quick boot option (not the dual boot), is that when you install the second OS, make sure you remove the IDE/SATA cable for the HDD that holds the primary Windows.
(Because of this, the installation won’t detect
that you already have a primary OS installed and won’t enable the dual
boot option. Otherwise, the cables plugged into the primary HDD will
automatically enable it.)
Viewing the dual boot option file
Boot.ini is a system file found in the system root. Because it has a major importance for the booting process, Windows developers gave it hidden, system and read-only attributes. Don’t worry though, you can easily view it and even change the attributes by yourself. Just go to My Computer/Windows Explorer > Folder Options > View and check “Show hidden files and folders”.
How to edit Boot.ini
Let’s assume that you have the dual boot option enabled and you got your system crashed losing the second operating system, and you want to get rid of the dual boot option. To do it, you need to edit the Boot.ini which can be done in multiple ways.
Comfortable method to change the “timeout”
When the dual boot option works, you are provided with a timeout in order to select the desired OS. By default, this timeout is 30 sec. If no OS is selected, after 30 seconds, the primary Windows will boot. In case you consider the timeout too high, you can lower it.
Go to Start > Run and type msconfig. Once the system configuration window pops up, you will notice that Boot.ini has its own tab. Select that tab and where you see “timeout,” set it to a lower or higher value.
Remove/Add Operating Systems in the dual boot menu
This is the main issue. How to remove a dual boot option from the menu?
* For windows xp/vista
-Right click on My Computer icon and select Properties.
-From the properties window go to Advanced > Startup and Recovery > Settings.
-Here, you can both edit the timeout value and modify the Boot.ini file by clicking Edit.
If you remove the second operating system from Boot.ini, the dual boot option won’t appear before booting.
* For Windows 7
In Windows 7, the boot.ini file has been replaced with Boot Configuration Data (BCD). This file is more versatile than boot.ini, and it can apply to computer platforms that use means other than basic input/output system (BIOS) to start the computer.
To know how to remove multi boot option in windows 7, read this post
** Don’t forget to backup the file in any situation. It will keep you out of trouble!
njoy computing…..
