REMOVING THE DEFAULT BOOT DELAY

The best and simplest method to reduce startup delays for Windows is to limit the number of items in the Startup folder and the System Tray. However, in cases where a Windows 98 PC is constantly rebooted (say, a test machine that is regularly reconfigured) or start-up procedures are extraordinarily time critical, it may be necessary to shave seconds off the boot-up sequence.

Windows 95/98 features a default two-second delay during boot-up. To remove this delay, you need to make a change in the file Msdos.sys. Msdos.sys is a read-only, system, and hidden file that must be stripped of these attributes before it can be altered. To remove the attributes, click on Start | Run, type

Command

and press [Enter]. Now (assuming Windows is installed on the C: drive)

type

attrib -s -h -r msdos.sys

and press [Enter].

Now type

notepad c:\msdos.sys

and press [Enter] to open the file up in Notepad. Under the Options section, press enter to add a clean line, then type

BootDelay=0

and press [Enter].

Save the file and then close Notepad. You must now replace the original Msdos.sys file attributes. Back at the command prompt, type

attrib +s +h +r msdos.sys

and press [Enter]. Then type

exit

and press [Enter] to close the command prompt window. Now, reboot the computer to confirm that the standard two-second delay has been removed.

NOTE: BootDelay is an included component of the Windows 95 Msdos.sys file. Windows 95 users should alter the existing BootDelay rather than adding a new one. Additionally, as BootDelay is not an included component of the Windows 98 Msdos.sys, Microsoft does not recommend adding BootDelay and advises users to do so at their own risk.