One of the most interesting and impressive features introduced in Microsoft's latest OS Windows 8 is the new boot loader. Previous Windows versions used to contain a boot loader without a GUI. It was similar to Command Prompt screen where you could use the arrow keys present in your keyboard to select the desired OS to boot.
Microsoft replaced this classic boot loader with a brand new boot loader in Windows 8 which is now called "Boot Options Menu". It comes with a GUI and allows you to interact with your mouse as well. It provides various useful options such as troubleshoot PC startup problems, reset or repair Windows 8, restore Windows, disable device driver signature check, access Safe Mode and much more.
You can check out following article to learn more about this new Windows 8 boot loader:
How to Access and Use Windows 8 Metro Boot Loader and Advanced Boot Options?
But some people don't like this new boot loader. The reason is simple, this new boot loader first loads Windows 8 and then shows the OS selection screen. So if you want to boot into another OS, you'll need to wait for Windows 8 to load first and only then you can select the other OS from the boot options screen. It wastes your time and if you frequently switch between installed OS, it might become a little bit irritating. To solve this problem, we posted a tutorial to get Windows Vista or Windows 7 style boot loader back in Windows 8 at following link:
How to Bring Back Windows Vista and 7 Style Boot Loader in Windows 8?
If we talk about the new boot screen present in Windows 8, its quite similar to boot screens present in previous Windows versions such as Windows 7. It shows Windows 8 logo in the middle along with a new circle animation to show the progress as shown in following image:
By default, Microsoft doesn't allow you to customize boot screen UI or boot loader options but using a free software you can tweak them according to your requirements.
"Boot UI Tuner" is a free and portable software created by our friend "hb860" which allows you to customize Windows 8 boot screen look and tweak various hidden settings of Windows 8 boot loader or boot options menu.
It supports both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 8. You just need to download the software and run the appropriate EXE file. Once launched, it looks like following:
Using this tool is very easy. Just enable or disable the desired option and click on apply button. You'll need to restart your system to take effect. It also allows you to restore default settings.
This freeware allows you to enable advanced options of Windows 8 boot menu which are displayed at each startup. Its very useful because you don't need to press any extra key to get that advanced boot options screen. You can easily access options such as safe mode, boot logging, driver signature check, etc.
It also allows you to enable editing of kernel parameters at startup. Though not many users will find it useful.
You can also disable new metro boot loader and bring back Windows 7 style boot loader which we explained in this tutorial as well.
Apart from tweaking boot options menu screen, it also allows you to customize Windows 8 boot screen UI. You can disable Windows 8 logo, circle animation and text messages at boot screen using this little utility.
Basically you can use a built-in command bcdedit of Windows to modify various boot loader options to apply all these tweaks and customizations but it'll require some expertise and with the help of this free tool you can do all these things quickly and easily.
If you want to tweak and customize Windows 8 boot screen and boot loader, you can download Boot UI Tuner using following link:
UPDATE: A few readers reported constant boot loop problem after using this tool. If you also faced any problem or if you don't want to use a 3rd party software, you can do all these things manually by using a built-in command bcdedit as mentioned above. hb860 also shares the commands which are used by his Boot UI Tuner app in background. Just open Command Prompt as Administrator as mentioned here and then run following commands:
To disable Windows 8 logo in boot screen:
bcdedit /set {globalsettings} custom:16000067 trueTo disable circle animation in boot screen:
bcdedit /set {globalsettings} custom:16000069 trueTo disable text messages in boot screen:
bcdedit /set {globalsettings} custom:16000068 trueTo enable advanced options of Windows 8 boot menu:
bcdedit /set {globalsettings} advancedoptions trueTo enable editing of kernel parameters at startup:
bcdedit /set {globalsettings} optionsedit trueTo disable new metro boot loader:
bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy
If you want to restore default settings, simply replace true with false in above mentioned commands and then execute the commands.
Posted by: Vishal Gupta | Categories: Software, Windows 8
Dan C.
For a little while, I had Windows 8 installed on my pc. I decided to uninstall it, because I have no touch screen and no intention to buy one in the near future. But there are two features in Windows 8 that I really loved and it would be extraordinary to be transfered to Windows 7 or XP: first, it's the way One Note gives us the possibility to quickly choose between screen capture, copy in file or copy in clipboard. And the second is the possibility of changing the keyboard language only by hitting some keys. (The last one is particularly useful for those who translate movie subtibles). Well, dear Vishal, can you make it? Will you accept this challenge?
I wish you do. And I hope you do. And, moreover, I beg you to do it.
Thank you in advance. Best regards,
Dan
Konci
You can change keyboard language using Alt + Shift in XP, Vista and 7, maybe in older editions too - I'm not sure.
VG
^^ True. @Dan C, I think the shortcut key works in previous Windows as well if you have installed more than one language.
anuj
keeping all the options unchecked except enable legacy boot menu considerably speed up the start up.
unbelievable
wildgoosespeeder
Just another case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I've been seeing this a lot ever since Windows Vista.
Taha
Can I replace the Windows logo with something else?
VG
^^ Not tried yet but may be possible by editing system files.
Dan C.
No, the shortcut key (Alt+Shift) doesn't work in XP. And yes, I have more than one language installed (3, but I had even more). Believe me, there is no such a possibility in XP or 7 as in 8. Try it and you'll see what I mean, why I'm lovin' it.
And the other trick? One Note?
N Studios
Earlier this month, I saw an article relating to the Registry Tweak that OEMs create in order to change the Windows logo on the boot screen. I'm not referring to anything else EXCEPT for the Windows Logo in the startup animation. I found this article very interesting, but I forgot where it was and what it was called and I forgot to bookmark it as well! DX Now, the tweak I'm referring to needs some clarification. Say a computer made by HP came with Windows 8 preinstalled. HP would then make a registry edit on that computer to change the default Windows logo in the startup animation to the HP logo. Does anyone know which article I'm talking about? I can't find it at all! :(
VG
^^ Afaik the resources are shown using firmware and system files. Various files in following folder contains these resources:
C:\Windows\Boot\
Vaqar
@N Studios: The feature you r talking about is not just merely the change of registry keys. Actually it is what called the "UEFI Boot logo" UEFI is supported in newer PC's and for a UEFI enabled PC you dont need to tweak any thing it will find logo in UEFI, n if founds one then shows that instead of Windows default logo. Same HP and other manufacturers are doing.