Boot.ini file contents

[Guest]

I have a new computer with a single-partition HD loaded with Windows XP Home,
SP2. No programs have been loaded. I'm having extremely long boot-up times on
order of two minutes. Could the boot.ini file have anything to do with this?
If so, can you tell me what information the appropriate boot.ini file
contents should contain?

 

[Dale Sampson]

Pat,

Boot.ini - it's major function is to point the computer to the
disk/partition where the boot files are located. In the case of multiple OS
being installed on a machine, it provides a mechinism to select which system
to start. It is not likely it is contributing to long boot-up times. An
exception might be you see a 'boot from' menu asking you to pick which
disk/OS to boot from - doesn't sound like that applies to your system.

Providing a little more info would be useful for others to help you. Can
you describe where / what in the boot process seems to be taking the time?

As an example, a client of mine has a system that uses a RAID configuration
with promise controller. His system takes 2-3 minutes to start. However,
most of this time is taken up with the BIOS configuring the RAID - has
nothing to do with windows at all. Once the windows boot logo appears, the
system only takes another 30 seconds or so untill he can log on.

Regards,

 

[Guest]

Dale,
Here is roughly what happens in order . . .
(1) BIOS splash screen appears and displays CPU and memory correctly, then
sits for full 30 seconds with no drive activity.
(2) Auto-Detect of Primary Master HD and Auto-Detect of Secondary Master
CD-ROM completes in two separate lines underneath BIOS splash screen, then
sits for another 30 seconds with no drive activity.
(3) At the end of that period, a brief screen flashes under the two
auto-detect lines that shows the Primary Master HD set to Ultra DMA Mode-5
and the Secondary Master CD-ROM set to Mode-2, a third line Auto-detecting
USB mass Storage (there aren't any), and a line showing "00 USB Mass Storage
Devices Found and Configured"
(4) The screen then goes to black with a blinking cursor at the top left.
This lasts for another 30 seconds when the Windows XP splash screen finally
begins to load the operating system

It may be worth mentioning also that almost every cold power up results
first in a two-line black screen which says an operating system was not
found. It gives instructions to press any key to try again. Control+Alt+Del
usually gets the machine to go back to the procedure described above. I have
repeatedly checked the boot order in BIOS to select the HD as the first boot
source.

Sorry this is so long, but thank you for your help.

 

[Dale Sampson]

Pat,

Your description suggests your "slow boot" is BIOS/Hardware related rather
than Windows.

Things I would look at:
- Reset BIOS setting to default - particular if any overclocking settings
(usually a 'default' or 'safe' option).
(you may wish to actually clear the BIOS & renter required settings. Make
sure yo write down all your current settings first if you do this!)
- disable any devices you are not using
- consider updating BIOS to mainboard's mfgr most current for you MB
- disk drive cables: swap with known good spare set if you have them
- make sure drives are correctly jumpered for master/slave
- look in newsgroups specific for your mainboard (e.g, asus, abit, ect)
[usually alt.comp.periphs.mainboard._Your MB mfgr name] Quite often, in the
MB specific groups you will find someone else who has had this problem & a
solution.
- Has this system always done this? Did it start after some specific event?
E.g, added a new hardware device?
- consider stripping the system down to a base configuratiion & see if the
problem goes away. By base config. I mean keyboard, mouse, memory & your
main disk drive. This isn't a solution but it may give you a better idea
what the problem is related to.
- if you know how to use Fdisk: boot from a floppy & use Fdisk to make sure
your boot disk is set as the active partition.

These suggestion are in no particular order. I'd check the MB specific
newgroup first.
Sorry I can't give you a more specific suggestion.

How this helps ...

 

[Guest]

Dale,
The thorough information you provided should help me get to the bottom of
this problem. Thank you very much for taking the time to help. This is
actually a brand new Asus Vintage barebones system I purchased for my
grandson. The only additional equipment other than the base configuration you
mentioned is the CD-ROM and a floppy drive. A stripdown test will certainly
be easy and I think I have spare drive cables. I'll double check drive jumper
master/slave settings and check with the MB company for a BIOS update. The
newsgroups suggestions is great. Again, thanks for assisting. Merry Christmas.

Pat Craddock

Pat,

Your description suggests your "slow boot" is BIOS/Hardware related rather
than Windows.

Things I would look at:
- Reset BIOS setting to default - particular if any overclocking settings
(usually a 'default' or 'safe' option).
(you may wish to actually clear the BIOS & renter required settings. Make
sure yo write down all your current settings first if you do this!)
- disable any devices you are not using
- consider updating BIOS to mainboard's mfgr most current for you MB
- disk drive cables: swap with known good spare set if you have them
- make sure drives are correctly jumpered for master/slave
- look in newsgroups specific for your mainboard (e.g, asus, abit, ect)
[usually alt.comp.periphs.mainboard._Your MB mfgr name] Quite often, in the
MB specific groups you will find someone else who has had this problem & a
solution.
- Has this system always done this? Did it start after some specific event?
E.g, added a new hardware device?
- consider stripping the system down to a base configuratiion & see if the
problem goes away. By base config. I mean keyboard, mouse, memory & your
main disk drive. This isn't a solution but it may give you a better idea
what the problem is related to.
- if you know how to use Fdisk: boot from a floppy & use Fdisk to make sure
your boot disk is set as the active partition.

These suggestion are in no particular order. I'd check the MB specific
newgroup first.
Sorry I can't give you a more specific suggestion.

How this helps ...

--
Dale Sampson
http://www.dalesplace.net

Dale,
Here is roughly what happens in order . . .
(1) BIOS splash screen appears and displays CPU and memory correctly, then
sits for full 30 seconds with no drive activity.
(2) Auto-Detect of Primary Master HD and Auto-Detect of Secondary Master
CD-ROM completes in two separate lines underneath BIOS splash screen, then
sits for another 30 seconds with no drive activity.
(3) At the end of that period, a brief screen flashes under the two
auto-detect lines that shows the Primary Master HD set to Ultra DMA Mode-5
and the Secondary Master CD-ROM set to Mode-2, a third line Auto-detecting
USB mass Storage (there aren't any), and a line showing "00 USB Mass
Storage
Devices Found and Configured"
(4) The screen then goes to black with a blinking cursor at the top left.
This lasts for another 30 seconds when the Windows XP splash screen
finally
begins to load the operating system

It may be worth mentioning also that almost every cold power up results
first in a two-line black screen which says an operating system was not
found. It gives instructions to press any key to try again.
Control+Alt+Del
usually gets the machine to go back to the procedure described above. I
have
repeatedly checked the boot order in BIOS to select the HD as the first
boot
source.

Sorry this is so long, but thank you for your help.

 

[Dale Sampson]

Hope it helps - and Merry Christmas to you also!

Dale,
The thorough information you provided should help me get to the bottom of
this problem. Thank you very much for taking the time to help. This is
actually a brand new Asus Vintage barebones system I purchased for my
grandson. The only additional equipment other than the base configuration
you
mentioned is the CD-ROM and a floppy drive. A stripdown test will
certainly
be easy and I think I have spare drive cables. I'll double check drive
jumper
master/slave settings and check with the MB company for a BIOS update. The
newsgroups suggestions is great. Again, thanks for assisting. Merry
Christmas.

Pat Craddock

Pat,

Your description suggests your "slow boot" is BIOS/Hardware related
rather
than Windows.

Things I would look at:
- Reset BIOS setting to default - particular if any overclocking settings
(usually a 'default' or 'safe' option).
(you may wish to actually clear the BIOS & renter required settings. Make
sure yo write down all your current settings first if you do this!)
- disable any devices you are not using
- consider updating BIOS to mainboard's mfgr most current for you MB
- disk drive cables: swap with known good spare set if you have them
- make sure drives are correctly jumpered for master/slave
- look in newsgroups specific for your mainboard (e.g, asus, abit, ect)
[usually alt.comp.periphs.mainboard._Your MB mfgr name] Quite often, in
the
MB specific groups you will find someone else who has had this problem &
a
solution.
- Has this system always done this? Did it start after some specific
event?
E.g, added a new hardware device?
- consider stripping the system down to a base configuratiion & see if
the
problem goes away. By base config. I mean keyboard, mouse, memory & your
main disk drive. This isn't a solution but it may give you a better idea
what the problem is related to.
- if you know how to use Fdisk: boot from a floppy & use Fdisk to make
sure
your boot disk is set as the active partition.

These suggestion are in no particular order. I'd check the MB specific
newgroup first.
Sorry I can't give you a more specific suggestion.

How this helps ...

--
Dale Sampson
http://www.dalesplace.net

Dale,
Here is roughly what happens in order . . .
(1) BIOS splash screen appears and displays CPU and memory correctly,
then
sits for full 30 seconds with no drive activity.
(2) Auto-Detect of Primary Master HD and Auto-Detect of Secondary
Master
CD-ROM completes in two separate lines underneath BIOS splash screen,
then
sits for another 30 seconds with no drive activity.
(3) At the end of that period, a brief screen flashes under the two
auto-detect lines that shows the Primary Master HD set to Ultra DMA
Mode-5
and the Secondary Master CD-ROM set to Mode-2, a third line
Auto-detecting
USB mass Storage (there aren't any), and a line showing "00 USB Mass
Storage
Devices Found and Configured"
(4) The screen then goes to black with a blinking cursor at the top
left.
This lasts for another 30 seconds when the Windows XP splash screen
finally
begins to load the operating system

It may be worth mentioning also that almost every cold power up results
first in a two-line black screen which says an operating system was not
found. It gives instructions to press any key to try again.
Control+Alt+Del
usually gets the machine to go back to the procedure described above. I
have
repeatedly checked the boot order in BIOS to select the HD as the first
boot
source.

Sorry this is so long, but thank you for your help.





:

Pat,

Boot.ini - it's major function is to point the computer to the
disk/partition where the boot files are located. In the case of
multiple
OS
being installed on a machine, it provides a mechinism to select which
system
to start. It is not likely it is contributing to long boot-up times.
An
exception might be you see a 'boot from' menu asking you to pick which
disk/OS to boot from - doesn't sound like that applies to your system.

Providing a little more info would be useful for others to help you.
Can
you describe where / what in the boot process seems to be taking the
time?

As an example, a client of mine has a system that uses a RAID
configuration
with promise controller. His system takes 2-3 minutes to start.
However,
most of this time is taken up with the BIOS configuring the RAID - has
nothing to do with windows at all. Once the windows boot logo appears,
the
system only takes another 30 seconds or so untill he can log on.

Regards,

--
Dale Sampson
http://www.dalesplace.net

I have a new computer with a single-partition HD loaded with Windows
XP
Home,
SP2. No programs have been loaded. I'm having extremely long boot-up
times
on
order of two minutes. Could the boot.ini file have anything to do
with
this?
If so, can you tell me what information the appropriate boot.ini
file
contents should contain?

 

[Guest]

Dale,

Don't know if you're still monitoring this group, but just wanted to let you
know that you got me going in the right direction on my slow boot problem.
Actually took only a few minutes to determine that I had a bad IDE cable from
motherboard to the hard drive. Replaced that with a spare and got immediate
normal boot. Can't thank you enough for taking time to help.

Happy Holidays

Pat