Set up to choose which OS to use

bjhannaway · Apr 2, 2024

I have got W11 on my C drive and W10 on my D drive. When I start my computer either of two things happens: (1) I receive a screen with two large icons giving me the opportunity to choose either W11 or W10.(which, of course, I prefer) or (2) the computer may open in one OS or the other (this is frustrating). Is there a way to set up my computer so that I get the screen in (1) above each time. Many thanks, Brian

Berton · Apr 2, 2024

Don't know if I have a solution but do need to know about Drive C and Drive D, are they actual drives/2 drives or are they Partitions on the only/1 drive in the computer?

antspants · Apr 2, 2024

Hi Brian

Are you actually shut down before you restart? Because if you’re not, you’re just booting into the OS that you last used? Shutdown is really Hibernation since Windows 11 unless you state otherwise.

Have you tried disabling Fast Startup?

Turn On or Off Fast Startup in Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off fast startup in Windows 11. There are three startup modes in Windows: Cold (traditional) Wake-from-hibernation Fast Starting with Windows 8.x, the default shutdown and restart scenario has been updated and named fast startup. Fast startup...

www.elevenforum.com

Or probably better, try disabling Hibernation?
Open the Command Prompt (CMD) as Admin and type or copy paste: powercfg -h off
Press enter.
Reboot

Or have a look at this Tutorial:

Enable or Disable Hibernate in Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable hibernate and restore or delete the hiberfil.sys file in Windows 11. Hibernate is a power-saving state designed primarily for laptops, and might not be available for all PCs. (For example, PCs with Modern Standby may not have hibernate...

www.elevenforum.com

Turning off Hibernation disables both hibernation and Windows Fast Startup (I am pretty certain)

garlin · Apr 2, 2024

bjhannaway said:
I have got W11 on my C drive and W10 on my D drive. When I start my computer either of two things happens: (1) I receive a screen with two large icons giving me the opportunity to choose either W11 or W10.(which, of course, I prefer) or (2) the computer may open in one OS or the other (this is frustrating). Is there a way to set up my computer so that I get the screen in (1) above each time. Many thanks, Brian

Code:

bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu yes
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} timeout 30

tecknot · Apr 2, 2024

Hi bjhannaway,

Can you tell me how much time do you get before your PC chooses an OS?

Kind regards,

tecknot

Scott · Apr 2, 2024

tecknot said:
Can you tell me how much time do you get before your PC chooses an OS?

That can be set in System Configuration

bjhannaway · Apr 3, 2024

First of all, many thanks to everyone. My replies to each as follows: To Breton Drive C and Drive D are partitions. I set up a partition for drive D only last week. I named it Drive M, but it shows up as Drive D.
To: Antspants I shut down completely - I do not Restart. I have not disabled Fast Startup. I will disable Hibernation.
To: Technut and Scott 1. If the PC open to the screen with the choice of W11 or W10, it takes 10-20 seconds. 2. If it open in an OS it takes around 4 MINUTES !!

bjhannaway · Apr 3, 2024

To: Garlin: Apologies, I missed you in my prior message. Thank you for the code. However, please note that I am in no way a computer expert, so I have no idea how to enter the code. I would need "idiot proof" guidance !! Many thanks, Brian

antspants · Apr 3, 2024

bjhannaway said:
To: Garlin: Apologies, I missed you in my prior message. Thank you for the code. However, please note that I am in no way a computer expert, so I have no idea how to enter the code. I would need "idiot proof" guidance !! Many thanks, Brian

Open windows search, search for CMD, click on the icon and chose run as administrator.

Type or copy paste these one at a time pressing Enter after each entry

bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu yes
Press Enter

bcdedit /set {bootmgr} timeout 30
Press Enter

However this will display your boot menu for 30 seconds before you interect, I believe.

A word on shutdown. Hibernate is the new Shutdown, especially for newer laptops, just to add to my previous comment. This is to my understanding anyway.

Fabler2 · Apr 3, 2024

Just for info. I'm dual booting on three laptops, (RTM and Canary versions of Win 11).
Hibernate disabled via 'powercfg -h off' to stop potential issues when dual booting.
Always make the OS I'm running at the time the default as it sometimes needs to reboot after an update. Don't have or had issues with these settings.

bjhannaway · Apr 3, 2024

To all: Thanks again - much appreciated. I have disabled Hibernate in both W10 and W11. Garlin, I will enter the code above - thanks. I now choose OS by using Sys Config. I simply change the OS default and go from there. One thing I noticed is that when I am in W10, Sys Config shows W10 in C drive and W11 in D drive. When I am in W11, Sys Config shows W10 in M drive and W1 in C drive. This seems odd. (By the way, when I made the new partition I named it M drive. The computer sometimes shows it as D drive or M drive ???) See screen shots.
Anyway, many thanks, guys. Brian

tecknot · Apr 3, 2024

bjhannaway said:
To all: Thanks again - much appreciated. I have disabled Hibernate in both W10 and W11. Garlin, I will enter the code above - thanks. I now choose OS by using Sys Config. I simply change the OS default and go from there. One thing I noticed is that when I am in W10, Sys Config shows W10 in C drive and W11 in D drive. When I am in W11, Sys Config shows W10 in M drive and W1 in C drive. This seems odd. (By the way, when I made the new partition I named it M drive. The computer sometimes shows it as D drive or M drive ???) See screen shots.
Anyway, many thanks, guys. Brian

Hi Brian,

I see that you have your timeout period is 5 seconds. Try increasing it to 10 or 20 seconds. This might avoid your PC automatically booting into an OS.

Kind regards,

tecknot (not Technut, funny though (no apology necessary))

bjhannaway · Apr 3, 2024

Again, thanks to everyone. Your help has been just great. To: Antspants: I have applied your code. Thanks for the "idiot proof" guidance. It now works like a charm!! Well done everyone. Brian

Winuser · Apr 3, 2024

bjhannaway said:
To all: Thanks again - much appreciated. I have disabled Hibernate in both W10 and W11. Garlin, I will enter the code above - thanks. I now choose OS by using Sys Config. I simply change the OS default and go from there. One thing I noticed is that when I am in W10, Sys Config shows W10 in C drive and W11 in D drive. When I am in W11, Sys Config shows W10 in M drive and W1 in C drive. This seems odd. (By the way, when I made the new partition I named it M drive. The computer sometimes shows it as D drive or M drive ???) See screen shots.
Anyway, many thanks, guys. Brian

That's because you looking at them while running a different OS. Unless you manually change it when setting up Windows ,the OS that is running will always be drive C: .

antspants · Apr 3, 2024

bjhannaway said:
Again, thanks to everyone. Your help has been just great. To: Antspants: I have applied your code. Thanks for the "idiot proof" guidance. It now works like a charm!! Well done everyone. Brian

That was garlins code, my instructions