How to make Windows XP your default operating system in dual boot with Ubuntu?

Lots of people are trying out Ubuntu, one of the currently most popular distributions of Linux. Why not? After all, it's free. Many are installing it to dual boot with their Windows OS, which is a good idea since many Windows applications that you may rely on to do your work don't run in Linux. However, you may notice that its boot loader takes over and makes Ubuntu the default operating system, and that might not be what you want. To change that behavior, you need to edit the Grub boot loader menu. Here's how:

1. Boot into Ubuntu
2. Click Applications Accessories Terminal to open a command line window
3. At the command prompt, type sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
4. When prompted, type your password
5. In the file, find the following section:
   ## default num
   # Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0,
   and
   # the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.default 0
6. Change the 0 to the number of the Windows boot section, which should be 4 on a typical dual boot system where you installed Ubuntu after XP
7. Save the file with the changes
   

It's a good idea to back up the file before you edit it.