Re: Invalid boot.ini file

Thank you very much for your prompt reply!
I have several partitions. Yes, C is the system partition. As I wrote
earlier, I was configured to view hidden and system files, but boot.ini did
not and does not appear (that's why I had thought I might be looking in the
wrong place).

The rest of your reply is exactly what you wrote before, thus all my queries
regarding that paragraph still stand....I wish I could send you a screen
capture of the Windows 2000Professional contents---everything I click on
relating to "set-up" gets me to an installation or an upgrade---I don't know
where a Repair option is on the disk.....

Janet

"Dave Patrick" wrote:

> If your operating system is installed on a drive with only one partition
> then most likely the drive letter is C: if this is the case this drive is
> the system partition (first primary active partition). You can verify this
> by going to Disk Management
>
> Start|Run|diskmgmt.msc
>
> Here you can check which drive letter is listed as 'System'
>
> Then if you already have;
> Explorer|Tools|Folder Options|View, then radio button for "Show hidden files
> and folders", then uncheck the box for "Hide protected operating system
> files" to locate the files in the system partition. Now take a look in the
> root [ C:\ ] of that drive. If you find it you can open it with notepad.exe,
> copy the text from it and paste in a reply message. If you don't find
> boot.ini then it may just be missing for some reason.
>
> If so you can repair the boot sector from the recovery console.
>
> To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
> Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
> floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
> use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks.
> Press ENTER at the "Setup Notification" screen. Press R to repair a Windows
> 2000 installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The
> Recovery Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do
> not have the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
> computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
> Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted
> or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
> in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
> access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,
> and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,
> you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard
> disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer: drive
> root, %systemroot% or %windir%
>
> From the recovery console command line issue the command;
>
> fixboot
>
> Then restart the computer.
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Dave
>
> Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
> Microsoft Certified Professional
> Microsoft MVP [Windows]
> http://www.microsoft.com/protect
>
> "Janetb" wrote:
> | Dear Dave,
> |
> | Thanks for your help. I had gotten discouraged because there are so many
> | things in your posts that I didn't understand, so I gave up....I'm
> returning
> | now to try again....
> |
> | Had already checked Show hidden files and folders.
> | Had already unchecked Hide protected operating files.Don't know what a
> | system partition is, let alone what its root is....nor what a primary
> active
> | partition is....(This is all Greek to me...) If I can find the file, I
> can
> | write in what is needed to match what you have written in your first
> | post..... Just need to get to it......If I run a search for boot.ini,
> nothing
> | comes up....
> |
> | As regards your second post, I was unfamiliar with about 50% of the
> | terms...:-)....
> | Don't know what a command prompt is.
> | Don't know how to issue a command.
> | I have 2 Windows 2000 CD's: one says "Windows 2000 Professional---Step by
> | step Interactive" and the other just says "Windows 2000 Professional". Can
> I
> | start from one of these? How?
> | If not, how would one "use another Windows 2000-based computer to create
> the
> | Setup floppy disks"?
> | I never put in a Administrators password---I'm the only one who uses the
> | computer and it came with the OS already installed.
> | I'm not sure i'll be clear on what to do at this point (if I ever get that
> | far).....
> |
> | Many thanks,
> | Janet
>
>
>
.