Re: BOOT.INI deleted. How to re-create this file?
- From: "R. C. White" <rc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 15 Oct 2005 23:45:16 -0500
Hi, Sven.
For WinNT4, Win2K and WinXP (as well as Windows 2003 Server and the still-in-beta Windows Vista, formerly codenamed Longhorn), the structure of Boot.ini is essentially unchanged. It is a plain-text file that can be edited with just about any editor, including Notepad. The key line is the one you see under [operating systems]:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect
While some systems make use of the first two parameters, for most of us the only ones that matter are rdisk(#), which refers to the physical HDs in our computer, numbered starting with zero; and partition(#), which refers to the volumes (primary partitions and logical drives in the extended partition, if there is one) on each HD, starting with one on each HD. These numbers are followed by \WINNT, which is the name of YOUR "boot folder". The text within quotes is there only for YOUR benefit; the computer ignores it, as you can see from the Default line. The switches following the quoted label vary with some non-typical installations; what you show is typical. Also note that drive letters do not appear at all in boot.ini. Your boot.ini is quite typical; it says that the multi-megabytes of files and subfolders that make up the Win2K operating system should be found in the \WINNT folder on the first partition of your first hard drive, probably C:\WINNT. (In Win2K, the default name for the boot folder is \WINNT; in most versions of Windows the default is \Windows.)
Some terminology used here is counterintuitive and confuses many users. As has often been said, we boot from the "System Partition" and keep the operating system files in the "boot volume". Your computer will have only a single System Partition; if you are not dual-booting multiple operating systems (such as Win2K and WinXP on the same computer), you will also have only a single boot volume. In the most-common arrangement, Drive C: is both the System Partition and the boot volume, but many variations are possible.
The System Partition must contain 3 files, all in the Root:: C:\NTLDR, C:\NTDETECT.COM and C:\Boot.ini. When the computer boots, code in the boot sector (the first physical sector of the System Partition) tells it to find NTLDR, which reads Boot.ini to see whether you have multiple operating systems installed; if so, it presents a menu for you to choose the one to boot for the current session. If you have only a single Windows installation, that one is booted without showing the menu. NTDETECT.COM proceeds to locate the chosen (or only) copy of Windows, loads it, and starts it to running. If any one of these 3 startup files is missing or damaged, Windows cannot start and an error message is displayed.
Often, even when the files are intact and right where they should be, the system gets confused because something is causing NTLDR to look in the wrong place. It doesn't recognize what it finds there, doesn't know what to do next, and aborts with an error message. If you can fix the pointers, the system should be able to find the needed files and boot properly. Usually, the solution is to fix the pointers, not to restore the startup files.
Those pointers can get changed if you change the physical configuration of your HDs (add or remove or disable one or more HDs or partitions, or change their sequence in your BIOS). If you've installed or reinstalled an operating system (MS-DOS? Win98?), the boot sector may not be correct for Win2K. Even adding or removing CD/DVD drives or USB devices (anything that might be assigned a "drive" letter) can confuse the startup process. Iomega Zip drives sometimes cause such problems when added or removed.
These startup files certainly can be deleted or damaged, of course. But the actual problem is usually in the pointers, not in the files themselves.
RC -- R. C. White, CPA San Marcos, TX rc@xxxxxxxxxxxx Microsoft Windows MVP
"Sven T.Eriksson" <s.eriksson@xxxxxxx> wrote in message news:434e44d1$0$10235$9b4e6d93@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
During the booting my computer tells me:
Invalid BOOT.INI file Booting from C:\WINNT\
At the end My Windows system booted successfully. But I want to get rid of this message.
Currently there is no BOOT.INI in the root directory of my boot partition C:\
So how can I recreate such a BOOT.INI file?
From another Win2000 system (with similar configuration) I retrieved the following boot.ini file:
[boot loader] timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT [operating systems]
Can I just create a new file and copy/paste the text above into this new file?
I have two partitions: C: Boot partition D: Data partition
Is there possibly a tool which analyzes my partitions and does the job for me?
Do BOOT.INIs for Win2000 and for WinXP have the same structure?
Sven
.
- Prev by Date: Re: Need Help with Win2k Server Issue
- Next by Date: Safe Mode "shuffles" desktop
- Previous by thread: Re: BOOT.INI deleted. How to re-create this file?
- Next by thread: Error - Event ID 10016. Help!!
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
