Disable the Windows XP Splash Screen / logo at startup

To disable the Windows XP splash screen (logo) at startup, and to see the list of drivers loading at startup, follow these steps:

Click Start, Run and type MSCONFIG

Click the Boot.ini tab

Under Operating Systems section, select the appropriate entry and then enable the /SOS switch in the Boot Options section below

Click OK and close MSCONFIG utility.

The corresponding entry in the Boot.ini file is automatically added. Example given below:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(5)\WINDOWS="XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

becomes

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(5)\WINDOWS="XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /sos

The /sos parameter displays the names of the drivers as they load during the boot process. Use when startup fails (while loading drivers) to determine which driver is failing to load.