Mellan mardröm & verklighet!: Ubuntu tip: Use Startup Manager to edit your boot menu

fredag 28 juni 2013

Ubuntu tip: Use Startup Manager to edit your boot menu

So you've decided to install Ubuntu on your computer, but you're not ready to give up Windows altogether. No problem. During the install process, just take care not to overwrite Windows and you can have a dual boot setup in under an hour. But what's this? The GRUB bootloader adds 10 seconds to your startup time if you don't hit the key to skip the countdown. And it automatically assumes Ubuntu should be your default operating system.

It's relatively simple to tweak your GRUB menu by editing the menu.lst file hanging out in the grub directory of your Ubuntu file system's boot folder. You can change the boot order of the operating systems. Or you can adjust the countdown clock. But if you make a mistake, you could also make it quite difficult to load either Ubuntu or Windows.

Startup Manager, or SUM provides an easier way to edit your GRUB menu. You can find SUM in the Synaptic package manager or by typing "sudo apt-get install startupmanager" into a terminal window. Or you can just click this link.

Once it's installed, you can access Startup Manager from the System -> Administration menu. The utility lets you change the default operating system, adjust the screen resolution of the GRUB menu, and even alter the background and text colors. You can adjust the countdown timer, set a password, or alter a number of other settings. And there's fairly little risk of messing up your boot menu beyond all repair.

[via Digg and Make Tech Easier]

Tags: opensource, startup-manager, sum, ubuntu

Comments

Matias KorhonenOct 10th 2008 5:56PM

Neutral

Good enough, I suppose, but I personally prefer QGrubEditor, for those times that I'm working on Ubuntu. Though most of the time I find it easier to just edit the configuration manually through VIM (not the best solution for newbies, of course)...

http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy/admin/qgrubeditor

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JackOct 10th 2008 7:24PM

Neutral

The apt link doesn't work :(

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DavidOct 10th 2008 10:01PM

Neutral

This is good to know! In the past I've just had to manually edit the file, but this is much less risky!

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kojo87Oct 10th 2008 10:01PM

Neutral

i know this is rather unrelated but i cant find the answer anywhere. im trying to install Ubuntu to its own HDD on my desktop but i cant even boot into the live CD. instead i get some Busybox 1.13 or something and i cant continue. i tried this with x86, x64 and Xubuntu x64. all did the same thing.

i put Ubuntu on my Laptop no problem

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