If there are two or more Windows OS on the computer, after starting the system, a menu for selecting the operating system appears in front of the user. By default, the selection time is thirty seconds. In order not to waste this time or not to press Enter every time you turn on the computer, you should correctly configure the boot of the operating system.
Instructions
Step 1
When the Windows XP operating system is loaded, the initial information is read from the MBR - the master boot record. It is the MBR that contains the hard disk partition table and boot sector data. After starting the download and obtaining information from the boot.ini file, the user sees the Windows start screen or the operating system selection menu. Therefore, strictly speaking, the bootloader is exactly the MBR. There is usually no need to delete the boot record, because without it, the computer will simply refuse to boot.
Step 2
To select the operating system to boot by default and set the timeout time, open: "Start" - "Control Panel" - "System" - "Advanced". At the bottom of the window, under Startup and Recovery, click the Options button.
Step 3
If, when the boot menu appears, you do not have to use the keys to select the OS, do not change anything in the "Operating system loaded by default" window. In the event that you choose - for example, instead of the first line, choose the second, then in the OS selection window, click the second line with the mouse. Now you will automatically boot exactly the required operating system.
Step 4
You can generally remove the checkbox from the item "Display a list of operating systems", then the OS installed by default will boot immediately, you will not see the boot menu. But it is better not to do this, because in case of failure of the main OS, you will not be able to boot from the backup one - after all, you will not have a boot menu. Better change the display time of the menu from 30 seconds to 3. Three seconds will be enough for you to select, if necessary, the second operating system.
Step 5
If you still need to delete the boot record (MBR), you can do this by formatting the disk - for example, from the Acronis Disk Director program. The boot record is located on the main disk (it will be marked as "main" in the program). Another option is to install a new OS. For example, installing Windows 7 will create a boot record for that particular operating system. When installing Linux on the second system, the bootloader of this OS will be added, most often it is Grub, both operating systems will be present in it.
Step 6
If you need to restore the boot record, use the installation disc. During the start, wait for the screen with the line "You are welcomed by the installation program", below will be listed three options for further actions. Among them there will be an item: "To restore Windows XP using the recovery console, press R", select it by pressing R. Enter the administrator password - if you did not set it, just press Enter. Then enter the fixmbr command and confirm its execution. Windows boot record has been restored.
