Removing multiple Ubuntu boot entries

If you are dual-booting Ubuntu with Windows you will have a bootmenu that allows you to select between the two systems.

When you first install Ubuntu you only have 3 options: Ubuntu <version x>, Ubuntu mem test and Windows XP/Vista/whatever.

Over time, when you upgrade Ubuntu, you can start to get multiple copies of the Ubuntu and Mem test options. This is a pain, particularly because the default option may no longer be what you want.

Luckily, fixing this is easy. Follow these steps:

1. Press Alt+F2. This brings up the Run application dialog.

2. In the dialog, type: gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst. This launches an editor to let you change the menu.lst file.

3. If prompted, enter your administrator password.

4. Once the editor has loaded, press Ctrl+f to open the find dialog.

5. Type howmany in the find dialog.

6. Look for the line in the file that reads howmany=all and change it to read howmany=1

7. Save the changed file and exit the editor.

8. That’s it. Next time you boot you will have only one Ubuntu option, one Mem test option and any Windows options.