Speed Up Your Boot Cycle-----


Want to shave a few seconds off your already interminable boot cycle? You can, but you have to hack a different system file from the usual Registry suspects--the msdos.sys file. It's a text file, so you can use Notepad to make alterations. However, the file is hidden and read-only, so you can't easily find it or quickly edit it--unless you know the secret: 

1. Select Search/For Files or Folders from the Start menu.

2. Enter msdos.sys in the Named box and C: in the Look In box; then click the Find Now button.

3. When the file appears, right-click it and select Properties from the pop-up menu.

4. Click to remove the check marks from the Read-Only and Hidden attributes and click OK.

5. Right-click msdos.sys again and select Open With from the pop-up menu.

6. Enter Notepad as the opening program and click OK.

7. Under [Options], enter BootDelay=0 or BootDelay=1 on its own line. (They represent respective delays of zero seconds and one second, both of which are faster than the default.)

8. Close Notepad after saving your changes.

9. Return msdos.sys to its hidden, read-only state. (Right-click it, select Properties from the pop-up menu, and check the Read-Only and Hidden check boxes; then click OK.)

10. Quit and restart Windows. 

Warning: Tweaking the Registry is risky; you're taking your system into your own hands. To be safe, manually back up the Registry before you make any changes.