Changing the Way Your Computer Boots

Windows 7 uses the Windows Boot Manager and a boot application to start the operating system. For troubleshooting, you can use the options on the System Configuration utility's Boot tab to control the boot partition, boot method, and boot options used by the operating system.

When your computer has multiple operating systems, you can specify that an operating system other than the current one should be used simply by clicking the related operating system entry. When working with operating system entries, you can select the following options:

• Set As Default Sets the currently selected boot partition as the default partition. The default partition is selected automatically if you don't choose another option before the timeout interval.
• Timeout Sets the amount of time the computer waits before using the default boot partition.
• Delete Deletes an operating system entry. As the entry cannot be easily re-created, only delete an entry if absolutely necessary.

The Boot tab has other options as well, including:

• Advanced Options Allows you to set boot options for number of processors, maximum memory, PCI locking, and debugging.
• Safe Boot Sets the computer to start in Safe Mode, with additional flags for minimal, network, and alternate shell minimal boots. After you successfully boot your computer in Safe Mode, you can modify settings to resolve any configuration problems.
• No GUI Boot Sets the computer to boot to the Windows prompt, which doesn't load the graphical components of the operating system. Booting to the prompt is useful when you are having problems with the video and graphical components of Windows 7.
• Boot Log Turns on boot logging so that key startup events are written to an event log.
• Base Video Forces the computer to use video graphics adapter (VGA) display settings. Use this mode when you are trying to resolve display settings, such as when the display mode is set to a size that the monitor cannot display.
• OS Boot Information Starts the computer using verbose output so that you can view the details of startup activities prior to the loading of Windows graphical components.

All changes you make are stored as modified boot configuration data by the System Configuration utility. After you make changes and click OK, you can restart the computer to apply the changes temporarily. To go back to a normal startup after you've made and applied changes, you must start the utility, select Normal Startup on the General tab, and then click OK. You must then restart the computer so that the normal settings are used.

To make the standard or advanced boot options you've selected permanent, you must select the Make All Boot Settings Permanent check box on the Boot tab before clicking OK. In most cases, you won't want troubleshooting or debugging options to be permanent, so be sure to clear these options first.