[STICKY] How-To set default OS

In the Terminal, type the command:

Code:

sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

You will be asked to provide your password, and then the text editor will open with the file loaded.

Now look for the line that says:

Code:

GRUB DEFAULT="0"

This line will be one of the first lines in the file, just past the comment lines that are marked with a "#". It tells GRUB2 that the default command to run is number "0" on the list, where the line numbers start with zero, and not one. This is an important detail.

Remember which line in your GRUB2 boot menu had the Windows command? If it was, for instance, line 6, then you will need to indicate that you want the default action to be item number 5. So change the command to say:

Code:

GRUB DEFAULT="5"

While you're at it, you could find the line that sets the countdown time for GRUB to display the menu, and change it from 10 seconds to maybe 3 seconds. This will save you a whole 7 seconds of boot-up time!

Save the changes to the file, and close it.

Go back to your Terminal. You will need to get GRUB2 to recognize the changes you made by typing:

Code:

sudo update-grub

Restart your computer, and it should choose Windows as its default boot-up. Remember that the Windows command will still be the last item on the menu list.

I hope this works out for you, and I also hope these instructions are more helpful than the ones in the linked page.

gamelover85 wrote:this use to work for me but i installed Zorin on another desktop and it don't work on this desktop. I get this error.

error: cannot read `/dev/sda': Input/output error.

jjlhendry wrote:I am having trouble with booting to a usb... I was able to from the BIOS before I installed Zorin OS 8 but now I can not. I tried booting the usb from the grub prompt but no luck. How do I go about adding the USB to the bootloader so I am able to boot to it. I have looked at forum after forum but i am not getting anywhere with it.