XP computer won't boot

[920jeff]

My desktop running XP wouldn't boot this morning. I got the message "NTLDR:
Fatal error 256 reading boot.ini. Anyway to fix this short of a complete
re-install? I suspect a virus caused this. Thanks.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

My desktop running XP wouldn't boot this morning. I got the message
"NTLDR:
Fatal error 256 reading boot.ini. Anyway to fix this short of a complete
re-install? I suspect a virus caused this. Thanks.

Your first step should consist of finding out if your
Windows installation is still intact. You can do this
by booting the machine with your own WinXP boot
diskette. Here is how it works:

- Format a floppy disk on some WinXP PC.
- Copy these files from the i386 folder of your WinXP installation
CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines inside:
[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

- Change the boot order in your BIOS so that the floppy disk
drive is your primary boot device. If unsure how to do this,
read the manual that came with your PC.

Report here if you can boot the machine successfully with
this boot diskette.

 

[920jeff]

I made the floppy boot disk and it started up to an a: prompt. I can look at
the c: drive but I can't boot from it. What's next?

My desktop running XP wouldn't boot this morning. I got the message
"NTLDR:
Fatal error 256 reading boot.ini. Anyway to fix this short of a complete
re-install? I suspect a virus caused this. Thanks.

Your first step should consist of finding out if your
Windows installation is still intact. You can do this
by booting the machine with your own WinXP boot
diskette. Here is how it works:

- Format a floppy disk on some WinXP PC.
- Copy these files from the i386 folder of your WinXP installation
CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines inside:
[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

- Change the boot order in your BIOS so that the floppy disk
drive is your primary boot device. If unsure how to do this,
read the manual that came with your PC.

Report here if you can boot the machine successfully with
this boot diskette.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

If you get an A: prompt then you did not follow my instructions
verbatim. You appear to have made a DOS boot disk. You MUST
format this disk on a WinXP machine by right-clicking drive A: in
in Explorer and selecting "Format", and you must NOT tell WinXP
to make it a boot disk. My instructions will take care of this!

I made the floppy boot disk and it started up to an a: prompt. I can look
at
the c: drive but I can't boot from it. What's next?

My desktop running XP wouldn't boot this morning. I got the message
"NTLDR:
Fatal error 256 reading boot.ini. Anyway to fix this short of a
complete
re-install? I suspect a virus caused this. Thanks.

Your first step should consist of finding out if your
Windows installation is still intact. You can do this
by booting the machine with your own WinXP boot
diskette. Here is how it works:

- Format a floppy disk on some WinXP PC.
- Copy these files from the i386 folder of your WinXP installation
CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines inside:
[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

- Change the boot order in your BIOS so that the floppy disk
drive is your primary boot device. If unsure how to do this,
read the manual that came with your PC.

Report here if you can boot the machine successfully with
this boot diskette.

 

[BillW50]

In Pegasus (MVP) typed:

If you get an A: prompt then you did not follow my instructions
verbatim. You appear to have made a DOS boot disk. You MUST
format this disk on a WinXP machine by right-clicking drive A: in
in Explorer and selecting "Format", and you must NOT tell WinXP
to make it a boot disk. My instructions will take care of this!

I made the floppy boot disk and it started up to an a: prompt. I
can look at
the c: drive but I can't boot from it. What's next?

My desktop running XP wouldn't boot this morning. I got the
message "NTLDR:
Fatal error 256 reading boot.ini. Anyway to fix this short of a
complete
re-install? I suspect a virus caused this. Thanks.

Your first step should consist of finding out if your
Windows installation is still intact. You can do this
by booting the machine with your own WinXP boot
diskette. Here is how it works:

- Format a floppy disk on some WinXP PC.
- Copy these files from the i386 folder of your WinXP installation
CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines inside:
[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

- Change the boot order in your BIOS so that the floppy disk
drive is your primary boot device. If unsure how to do this,
read the manual that came with your PC.

Report here if you can boot the machine successfully with
this boot diskette.

What do you see when you do this Pegasus? I don't have a floppy drive on
this computer, but I did follow your instructions on a bootable removable SD
card and I get the following message:

~~~~~~~~~~
Invalid system disk
Replace the disk, and then press any key
~~~~~~~~~~

I added a few more files like IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS and then I got the
following:

~~~~~~~~~~
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.
Please re-install a copy of the above file.
~~~~~~~~~~

--
Bill
Gateway Celeron M 370 (1.5GHZ)
MX6124 (laptop) w/2GB
Windows XP Home SP2 (120GB HD)
Intel(r) 910GML (64MB shared)

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

See below.

In Pegasus (MVP) typed:

What do you see when you do this Pegasus? I don't have a floppy drive on
this computer,

*** In these cases I make a boot diskette on a machine that does
*** have a FDD, then burn a bootable CD based on this diskette.
*** I would then test this boot CD on that same machine.

but I did follow your instructions on a bootable removable SD card and I
get the following message:

~~~~~~~~~~
Invalid system disk
Replace the disk, and then press any key

*** Sorry, I have never tried this.

~~~~~~~~~~

I added a few more files like IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS and then I got the
following:

*** You do not need io.sys and msdos.sys - they are Win9x boot
*** files. It is sufficient to have a WinXP boot sector, which is
*** created when formatting the floppy disk under Explorer or
*** with format.exe, but only on a WinXP/2000 PC.

~~~~~~~~~~
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.
Please re-install a copy of the above file.
~~~~~~~~~~

*** This could happen if the system drive number is incorrect.
*** You can get around the problem by having several lines
*** in a:\boot.ini like so:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="1 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="2 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="3 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="4 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin
*** Note that these are long lines that might get broken up
*** by your newsreader.
***
*** During the timeout period of 5 seconds you get an
*** opportunity to select one of the 4 options, each
*** pointing to a different partition on your first disk.
***
*** If your Windows installation is intact then you will be
*** able to boot into Windows with this boot diskette/CD,
*** even if the hard disk boot environment is damaged.
*** The next step would then consist of repairing the boot
*** environment.