Tech Tip: Disable XP's splash screen

Have you ever been in the process of troubleshooting a Windows XP startup problem and wondered what goes on behind the Windows XP splash screen while the system boots up? To find out, you can disable the splash screen by making a small change to the Boot.ini file.

Follow these steps:

1. Press [Windows][Break] to open the System Properties dialog box.
2. On the Advanced tab, click the Settings button in the Startup And Recovery section.
3. In the Startup And Recovery dialog box, select the Edit button in the System Startup section.
4. The Boot.ini file will open in Notepad; locate the line that ends with the /fastdetect switch.
5. Position your cursor right after the parameter, press the spacebar, and add the /SOS switch.
6. Save the Boot.ini file, and close Notepad.
7. Click Cancel to close both the Startup And Recovery dialog box and the System Properties dialog box.
8. Restart the system.

When the system restarts, the splash screen will no longer appear. You can observe some of the operations that Windows XP performs during the startup stage.

To revive the splash screen, simply repeat the above steps to edit the Boot.ini file and remove the /SOS switch.