What file do I access to modify the time I have to select between OS's when booting up my system? Currently I have only 5 seconds to select either Windows or Linux.

wich bootloader r u using ?

GRUB. sorry, forgot to mention that.

I'm using debian and i figured out that the file that should be modified is :
/boot/grub/menu.lst

i guess yours should be similar.

change timeout from 5 to a convenient number of seconds

thanks for the help. now I need to figure out how to be able to get in as root so I can adjust the file. tried as I did long ago...evidently I forgot something because Debian won't let me sign on as root.

oh well.... another time.

Run this in the terminal:

open a terminal, type su "enter",then your root password "enter", then type nautilus "enter", you will then have your file browser in graphical mode so you can easily browse to your grub-----be careful you WILL BE ROOT!!!----

When i had first installed linux, i had the same problem of not being able to login as root in my graphical environment. I have kde3 and here's what i did after searching through this same forum:

Open a command line terminal window.
You'll need to change to root to be able to modify configuration files
Type in: su root
On pressing enter you'll be asked for your root password
Open the text file /etc/kde3/kdm/kdmrc
I prefer pico so i used the foll command:
pico /etc/kde3/kdm/kdmrc
You'll have to find where it says AllowRootLogin
This will be set to false...change it to true and save the file
Next time you reboot you should be able to login with KDE using your root account.

Hope this helps