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GCFA · Question #223

On your dual booting computer, you want to set Windows 98 as the default operating system at startup. In which file will you define this?

The correct answer is B. BOOT .INI. BOOT.INI is the text-based configuration file on Windows NT-family dual-boot systems that controls the default operating system selection and timeout at startup.

File System & Registry Forensics

Question

On your dual booting computer, you want to set Windows 98 as the default operating system at startup. In which file will you define this?

Options

  • ANTBOOTDD .SYS
  • BBOOT .INI
  • CNTDETECT .COM
  • DBOOTSECT .DOS

How the community answered

(32 responses)
  • A
    6% (2)
  • B
    78% (25)
  • C
    13% (4)
  • D
    3% (1)

Why each option

BOOT.INI is the text-based configuration file on Windows NT-family dual-boot systems that controls the default operating system selection and timeout at startup.

ANTBOOTDD .SYS

NTBOOTDD.SYS is a SCSI adapter driver loaded during boot for SCSI disk access and has no role in defining the default operating system selection.

BBOOT .INICorrect

BOOT.INI contains a [boot loader] section with the 'default=' parameter that specifies which OS partition boots automatically and a 'timeout=' value controlling the selection delay, making it the definitive file for setting Windows 98 as the default OS in a dual-boot scenario.

CNTDETECT .COM

NTDETECT.COM is a hardware detection program that inventories system components during the boot sequence but does not store or control OS selection preferences.

DBOOTSECT .DOS

BOOTSECT.DOS stores a copy of the original DOS/Windows 9x boot sector to allow chainloading, but the selection logic and default setting are governed by BOOT.INI, not this file.

Concept tested: BOOT.INI default OS configuration in dual-boot setup

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/performance/edit-boot-ini-file

Topics

#BOOT.INI#dual boot#Windows startup#boot configuration

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