Comments on: Changing Default OS On Dual-Boot System (Ubuntu)

By: Floyd Bufkin

Floyd Bufkin — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 22:50:56 +0000

Well, I was the first one to spot the “grub.lst” error. I see you changed that!!

By: Rich Menga

Rich Menga — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:45:17 +0000

I’m leaving the error there just to see how many people point it out.

By: agree

agree — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:07:13 +0000

I was going to say the same thing. I’m glad I’m not the only person who noticed.

By: SAP

SAP — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:13:17 +0000

The Windows title is the 4th entry, so surely the default should be set to 3 – not 4 – if the numbering starts from 0?

By: Linux HowTo - Stiri ITC | news that bubbles

Linux HowTo - Stiri ITC | news that bubbles — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:25:41 +0000

[...] Changing Default OS On Dual-Boot System (Ubuntu) [...]

By: marc

marc — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:48:02 +0000

Gedit-ing your /boot/grub/menu.lst is one way to do it. You can edit the timeout before the default OS boots, too.

However, there’s more than one way to skin those cats.

Ubuntu 8.04 comes with Startup Manager built in (System>Administration>Startup Manager). You can use it to edit your boot menu in a GUI.

QGRUBEditor has been available since 7.10. It has a graphical front end and lots of features. You can backup and restore your boot/grub/menu.lst, add and remove entries, edit entries, set the default and create a splash image. I don’t remember if you can edit the timeout and my Ubuntu box isn’t handy at the moment. If memory serves, it can be installed through the Synaptic Package Manager.

Another option, KGRUBEditor, does pretty much everything QGRUBEditor does, plus you can edit the timeout and choose from additional colors for your boot screen.

By: Floyd Bufkin

Floyd Bufkin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:57:59 +0000

The file to edit is menu.lst, not grub.lst. It must be edited with root privileges, so to edit the file just type:
gksu gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
at the command prompt.