windows start up option

[iain_herts]

hi all need some help. wen i m8 start his pc up win xp home hes gets given 2 options to start windows up or to start up win xp setup how does he go about doing it so his pc start up straight away.

and anouther 1.
he wants to install xp again from fresh but his pc does not read his cd drive tryed getting into bios but the keyboard dont work untill it passes the bois part

[Chris W]

1- he needs to edit the boot.ini file

2- is it a usb keyboard? if so, bung a usb to ps2 adaptor on it. It should then work before windows starts.

[iain_herts]

no it is a ps2 keyboard had a look at that and wot does he need to change in the boot.ini thanks for ur help once again

what key are you pressing to access bios sometimes its f2 instead of delete

it you dont want to edit boot ini try this,click start then run type msconfig then boot ini make sure working windows is set default then in control panel system advanced start up and recovery reduce time displayed o/s down

[Paul K]

Copy and paste the boot.ini in here and someone will tell you what to remove. Posting in plain English would help too

[maxtoralias]

To locate boot.ini file, go to control panel, select SYSTEM, ADVANCED, START UP AND RECOVERY Settings and then click on EDIT and change to the following or similar.
This is a typical bott.ini file that you would need to modify yours to. If using windows xp home edition, just substitute HOME for PROFESSIONAL

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

Once changes made, click on save (this will be in NOTEPAD format)
You may also need to ensure that the modified boot.ini file is shown as the default operating system

Hope this helps

[iain_herts]

ok this is wot his boot.ini is

[Boot Loader]
Timeout=5
Default=multi disk rdisk partition(1)\WINDOWS
[Operating Systems]
multi disk rdisk partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows XP Setup"

[maxtoralias]

Another thought, if you cannot get into the BIOS (has already been stated there are many different ways of doing so dependant upon manufacturer DEL, F10, F2, etc.) you could initiate the process of installing windows whilst you are already logged into the sytem and use the advanced install options to carry out a new installation.

This process will automatically boot into setup and you simply select your preferred options. Just one though though, this will only work if you have an original windows XP operating system disc and not one of those restore CD's that are so popular these days.

You will need to modify the boot.ini file first

[iain_herts]

the pc is a custom built 1 which we did at college a few years ago.

so shall i get him to change his boot.ini to this [Boot Loader]
Timeout=5
Default=multi disk rdisk partition(1)\WINDOWS
[Operating Systems]
multi disk rdisk partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows XP Setup"

and change in from pro to home

[maxtoralias]

I would use the following:

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

Should work without problem