Ubuntu Documentation > Ubuntu 9.04 > Switching From Windows > Dual-booting with Windows > Customizing your dual-boot setup

Customizing your dual-boot setup

This section briefly explains how to make basic changes to the settings of your dual-boot setup.

Changing the boot menu timeout

It is possible to change the length of time for which the boot menu is shown. This is useful if you would like the computer to start up faster (without the delay of showing the menu) or would like more time to choose which operating system to start. The instructions for changing the boot menu timeout are given below:

  1. Press Applications → Accessories → Terminal.

  2. The Terminal screen will appear. Type the following into the Terminal, entering your administrative password if prompted:

    cd /boot/grub
sudo cp menu.lst menu_backup.lst
sudo gedit menu.lst

  3. The Text Editor will start, and will open the file menu.lst.

  4. Find the part of the file which contains text similar to the following:

    ## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout		10

  5. The line beginning with the word timeout determines the time, in seconds, which the boot menu will be shown for. Change the number on this line to the number of seconds which you would like the menu to be shown for. Use 0 if you would not like the menu to be shown at all.

  6. Press File → Save to save your changes and close the Text Editor. Your changes should take effect the next time you restart your computer.

Changing the default operating system to boot

You can decide which operating system will be started automatically if you have not chosen one from the boot menu within a certain time (see the section called “Changing the boot menu timeout” for more information on this).

  1. Press Applications → Accessories → Terminal.

  2. The Terminal screen will appear. Type the following into the Terminal, entering your administrative password if prompted:

    cd /boot/grub
sudo cp menu.lst menu_backup.lst
sudo gedit menu.lst

  3. The Text Editor will start, and will open the file menu.lst.

  4. The entry for each available operating system is arranged in blocks similar to the following:

    title		Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.15-26-686
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-26-686 root=/dev/hda1 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-26-686
savedefault
boot

    Find the operating system you would like to set as the default by looking at the lines marked title in each block.

  5. Find out the number of the block you found; the first block is 0, the second is 1 and so on. Count down the list until you get to the block you chose.

  6. Find the following lines:

    ## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.           
default		0

  7. Go to the line beginning with the word default and replace the number there with the number of the block you just found. For example:

    default		2

    This will cause the computer to boot the third operating system in the list, which is described by block 2.

  8. If you are happy with your changes, press File → Save to save your changes and close the Text Editor. The new default should take effect the next time you restart your computer.

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