Startup issue - Countdown timer

[Ray]

Dell Optiplex 330 PC, XP-sp2 Running Windows Steady state with Disk
Protection ON.

I noticed after starting to use Steady State that after it updated,
when the computer restarted, it would commonly come up to the "We
appologize for the inconvenience but Windows did not start
successfully..." screen.

On this screen, the computers all have a different value for the
"Seconds until Windows Starts" countdown. This value ranges from -
well - 0, where the screen isn't shown at all - to 286.

I've asked this question before, and was told it had to do with how
long it was taking for drivers to load - I don't buy that at all -
because 1) it doesn't make sense to my feable mind 2) there is ZERO
drive activity during this time and 3) if you have one computer that
says 15 seconds and another that says 265, and you hit the enter key
on the 265 machine, it immediately loads and is ready before the 15
one.

Blah blah blah.... the question is: Is this counter a value that is
set somewhere in the computers configuration and can that value be
altered intentionally...

Thanks in advance...
Ray

 

[Tim Meddick]

Hi Ray,
This person was probably referring to the time taken for Windows
to start. The time it takes for startup to begin to load the default
Operating System, that is, the value in the countdown timer in the black and
white screen before the Windows XP and flashing bar to begin, is set in the
file Boot.ini in the root of the system drive. Resetting this to a larger
value when it is set to 0 makes the options screen visible when was not.
And, I don't know how you cope with a default of 286, it must take forever!
A way of safely editing this value is to type msconfig.exe into the "Run"
box on the start menu and go to the tab marked Boot.ini. Here there is a
tiny box lobed "Timeout" - change this to something reasonable (say 7) in
seconds.

 

[Tim Meddick]

Hi Ray,
I may have got that slightly wrong on the previous reply. On
re-reading it I see you meant the "recovery" options. No panic, go to My
Computer and right-click upon it, then go to the "Advanced" tab and press on
the "Startup and Recovery" button. Here you will find similar "little
boxes" to enter values for Initial timeout (till Windows starts) AND timeout
for "Recovery Options" which, I think is what you want. Sorry about that.

 

[Ray]

Ding Ding Ding!!!
Correct answer...

Thank you VERY much.
I hate it when I can't seem to find something so simple and obvious.


Thanks Again
Ray

 

[Tim Meddick]

No Problemo, matey! You're very welcome.