The Windows XP startup option is unavailable in the System Configuration Utility in Windows Vista

You have a computer on which Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) is installed on the main partition. On this computer, you install Windows Vista on a different partition. Then, you try to use the System Configuration Utility (Msconfig.exe) in Windows Vista to remove or change the Windows XP startup option. However, the option is unavailable. You expect the option to be available on the Boot tab of the utility.

This problem does not occur if you install Windows Vista on both partitions.

To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Use the System Properties dialog box

To use the System Properties dialog box to configure Windows Vista as the default operating system, follow these steps:

1. Click Start
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   , right-click Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Under Computer name, domain, and workgroup settings, click Change settings.
   
   
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   If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
3. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
4. Under Startup and Recovery, click Settings.
5. Under System Startup, click Microsoft Windows Vista in the Default operating system drop-down list.
6. Set the value of the Time to display list of operating systems box to 0, and then click OK.
7. Click OK to close the System Properties dialog box.
8. Close all the active windows, and then restart the computer.

Method 2: Use the Boot Configuration Data Editor

To prevent the operating system selection menu from appearing when you start the computer, you can use the Boot Configuration Data Editor (Bcdedit.exe) to remove the Windows XP startup option. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start
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   , type cmd in the Start Search box, and then click Command Prompt in the application list.
2. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   bcdedit /enum all
   Note This command displays the GUIDs of the installed operating systems. Note the GUID for the Windows XP operating system.
3. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   bcdedit /delete ID
   For example, the bcdedit /delete {802d5e32-0784-11da-bd33-000476eba25f} command deletes the entry with ID {802d5e32-0784-11da-bd33-000476eba25f}.
   
   Note The ID placeholder specifies the GUID of the startup option for the operating system that you want to delete. If you do not specify the ID, the startup option for the current operating system will be deleted. If you specify a well-known GUID, you must force the deletion by using the /f switch. For example, type the following command:
   bcdedit /delete {default} /f
4. Close the Command Prompt window.

The Boot Configuration Data Editor modifies the boot configuration data (BCD) store. The BCD store contains boot configuration parameters. The BCD store also controls how the operating system is loaded. You can use the Bcdedit.exe command-line tool to take the following actions on entries in the BCD store:

• add
• delete
• edit
• append

The Bcdedit.exe file is in the \Windows\System32 folder on the Windows Vista partition.

In BIOS-based operating systems before Windows Vista, these parameters were in the Boot.ini file. In operating systems that were based on the Extensible Firmware Interface before Windows Vista, these parameters were in the nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM) entries.

For more information about the Boot Configuration Data Editor, visit the following Microsoft Web site: