Member Avatar for capton

Hi everyone, i would warmly appreciate any help from this forum as it has really thought me a lot.
I've set ubuntu as the default OS in a dual boot using easyBCD with time set to 0sec.
however i can no longer boot into windows since it's bootloader is configured to load grub as default.
Is there anyway to tell Grub to boot Windows or otherwise is there a way to get around it.
I just want to boot into Windows.
Any help please.

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Dani AI

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Brief recap and practical follow-ups based on this thread: got Windows booting again by using the Windows recovery command prompt as suggested by , and correctly pointed out that forcing a 0-second timeout removes any chance to pick the other OS. That pattern — changing the Windows boot manager so it never presents choices, or chainloading GRUB in a way that cycles back — is the usual root cause in dual-boot setups.

Quick checklist to avoid re-occurrence:

  • Never set the Windows boot manager timeout to 0. A small value (for example 5-10 seconds) gives time to interrupt the menu or use recovery options.
  • Keep both a Windows recovery USB and a Linux live USB handy before changing boot configuration.
  • Before making boot changes, back up the MBR/EFI and the Windows BCD store (or note EFI entries). On BIOS/MBR systems a simple sector backup is useful; on UEFI systems record the EFI partition contents and firmware boot order.
  • Prefer one primary boot manager: either use GRUB as primary and chainload Windows, or restore the Windows boot manager and add Linux from Windows tools — switching back and forth is what causes confusion.

Troubleshooting notes and diagnostics:

  • Confirm whether the machine is BIOS/MBR or UEFI/GPT by checking for an EFI System Partition (small FAT32 partition). Procedures differ for each.
  • If Windows becomes unreachable, try the automated "Startup Repair" from Windows media first. If that fails, the recovery command prompt is where you can rebuild or repair the Windows boot configuration.
  • If GRUB does not show a Windows entry, regenerate GRUB (os-prober/update-grub on Debian/Ubuntu) or add a small chainload entry to /etc/grub.d/40_custom so the menu explicitly points to the Windows partition, then update GRUB.

Example GRUB 2 chainload (place in 40_custom then update-grub):

menuentry "Windows" {
  set root=(hd0,msdos1)
  chainloader +1
}

Note: exact device names differ by system. On modern UEFI installs handle boot entries via the firmware (efibootmgr / Windows tools) rather than MBR tricks.

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Member Avatar for DELL_deepa

Hi,

My name is Deepa and I work for the Social Media and Community Team at Dell. Please go to safe mode and then you need to right click on my computer and go to properties and then advanced tab and you need to change the 0 to 30 again. This will start giving you options to choose windows.

In order to help you better please reply with the system model number and the operating system (Windows XP, Vista or 7)

Thanks and Regards
Dell_Deepa_R
Dell Social Media Responder

Member Avatar for mike_2000_17

First, try to just hold down the F8 key as you boot (before the windows bootloader), and that should get you into the windows bootloader, and you should at least be able to boot windows in safe mode and then do the change to make the timeout higher than 0!

Your grub menu should have an entry for Windows (it's added by default). If not, then add it with these instructions and you should be able to select it in the grub menu (usually one of the last entries in the menu).

If this fails for some reason, use a windows recovery disk and use bcdedit command line commands to change the timeout. You could also do a "repair" of the mbr to put the original windows bootloader, then you'll just have to redo the EasyBCD part (and don't set the timeout to 0 seconds this time).

Member Avatar for capton

Please how do i run bcdedit as an administrator from the recovery disk

Member Avatar for capton

followed Mike's Instructions and worked perfectly.
I just had to run bcd edit from the command line.
Thanks

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