VMware boots too fast to enter BIOS or choose boot source (bios.bootDelay)

If you ever wanted to boot from a CD-ROM or ISO in VMware then you have probably noticed that it boot really fast. You only have a very short time to actually hit ESC or F2.

As soon as you see the VMware logo, press F2 for BIOS and ESC for boot options, but if you have a hard time getting it right there is still hope for you.

There is a way to increase booting time for VMware. Who would have guessed we would ever want a slower boot

Open up the .vmx file for your virtual machine. It’s in the same directory as your other files for the VM.

Insert this line:

bios.bootDelay = “boot delay in milliseconds”

For a respectable 5 second boot,

bios.bootDelay = “5000″

Save the file and shut down VMware and open it up again. Being the slacker that I am it took me a week or so to change it back down from 30 seconds

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