OS Selection on Startup

I've just formatted the hard drive in my IBM Thinkpad T23 and done a clean install of XP Pro.

When the computer starts, I get a screen on which I'm asked to select the OS to start, either Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows, even though XP Pro is the only OS on the hard drive. The XP Pro line is already highlighted, but I have to hit the Enter key, or I have to wait 30 seconds, before the loading sequence continues.

I know that there's a way to avoid this screen, or there's a way to reduce the delay to 0 seconds, but I can't remember what they are.

Anyone?

 

Pete ...

System Properties > Advanced > Startup and Recovery did it. It allowed me to set the delay to zero seconds, and now I don't see the screen at all.

It's been awhile since I installed from scratch, and there are a lot of things I'm fumbling for.

Thanks!

 

Hey Jim,

I'm dual booting and of course see that screen all the time. I'm wondering how you got it. Is there something about XP Pro installs I don't know about?

Regards - Charles

 

Charles ...

I can't really answer your question, but I think there are things about XP Pro installs that none of us know about!

Perhaps I stretched things a bit when I called it a "clean" install. I was using IBM's Recovery CDs for the installation, and they do a lot of strange things that don't happen in a normal installation.

Normally, I would have used the XP Pro installation CD that came with my desktop computer, because I don't like the way IBM configures the system ... I want it as clean as possible, but they muck it all up. The laptop is going to my daughter-in-law, though, and she wants it the way IBM shipped it (with all the updates, of course).

And, for anyone who's curious, I can install XP on the laptop using the desktop installation CD because, when I activate XP, I use the MS product key that came with the laptop (XP Pro was pre-installed).

 

Hi Jim,

OK, you've answered my question. IBM, like HP, has a "hidden" partition that a recovery makes use of. That partition has the old windows installation on it. When XP installs, it looks for another OS, and automatically creates a boot menu taking the old OS into consideration.

BTW, I didn't mean to imply that I know all there is to know about XP installs, but a dual boot menu with a "clean" install was a little much

Regards - Charles

 

Charles - even doing a "clean install" from an XP install CD, if you elect to load the Recovery Console to your hard drive, you will get a boot.ini entry to allow starting in recovery console mode.

I doubt it is a good idea for anyone who has the regular XP CD and a PC that will boot from CD though. You can always use the CD to start the recovery console and if I'm having major problems, I like to boot from something other than the hard drive.

 

• I'll drink to that!

 

Hi Newt,

"Charles - even doing a "clean install" from an XP install CD, if you elect to load the Recovery Console to your hard drive, you will get a boot.ini entry to allow starting in recovery console mode "

Yes, I got that from the last go around on this subject in a thread we both posted to in which I jumped to a conclusion I shouldn't have. The poster never did post back about exactly what the boot.ini looked like.

Here, no question that this is a dual boot menu.

Regards - Charles

 

The entry for the recovery console startup in boot.ini will be something similar to

C:\cmdcons\bootsect.dat= "Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons