If you have a multi-boot setup on XP like you have several Windows versions and Linux boot partitions, in which case, you might not need this tip), you might want to know how to access the boot options in Windows XP.

By default XP should display boot choices during startup. Sometimes, Windows just doesn’t (I wonder why). It would just go straight to Windows XP without even letting you choose an OS. This happened to a friend of mine who was new with multi-booting, so I thought it’s worthwhile to write this.

It’s really simple on Windows XP. Here’s what you should do.

• Right-click on My Computer, select Properties.
  
• Click on the Advanced Tab.
  
• On the Startup and Recovery section, click Settings.
  
• On the System startup options, the drop-down lists all the available operating systems installed in your machine. You can select a default OS from this list.
  
• There’s a checkbox there that allows you to display the list of operating systems with customizable length of time (in seconds for windows to display them).
• Click OK twice to enable. You might have to restart your machine.