26. When Every Second Counts
You can remove the two-second delay before Windows starts (when you see the "Starting Windows 95" message) by editing the MSDOS.SYS file (or by using the Tweak UI PowerToy--see note below). But keep in mind that if you remove this delay, you'll no longer have this window of opportunity to press a Startup key, such as F8.
MSDOS.SYS is a hidden file located in the root directory of your hard drive. Locate this file in an Explorer window, right-mouse-click it, and select Properties. Deselect Read-only, then click OK. (Tip: Be sure to mark this file as read-only again after making the following change.)
Double-click the MSDOS.SYS file, and when the Open With dialog box appears, select Notepad and click OK. Under the [Options] section of this file, type
BootDelay=0
(or, change the current BootDelay setting to 0). Select File, Save; then close Notepad.
To see the change in action, restart your system. Windows 95 will start a whole two seconds faster than before!
Note: If you have the Tweak UI PowerToy, available for download from
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/contents/PowerToys/W95tweakui/default.asp
you can change the same setting with the click of a button. Assuming you've already installed this utility, open the Control Panel, double-click Tweak UI, select the Boot tab, deselect Function Keys Available for 2 Seconds, and click OK.
Microsoft® Windows®95 Hints & Tips by Stuart Martin.
