Invalid Boot.ini

[John McCormick]

I am missing my Boot.ini file and the message I get on start-up is "Invalid
Boot.ini File. Starting from C:\Windows"

This occurred sometime back, well over 6 months ago, and no restore point
that far back. On MsConfig there is no sign of the Boot Ini section.
I can access the Boot.ini.backup file ok and it looks normal apart from some
huge 850ms delay. I can edit that if need be, but how do I get the file back
into the system ?
Any assistance appreciated.

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

The BOOT.INI file is a hidden file in the root directory of your C: drive.

A sample BOOT.INI file for a single hard disk, single partition system would
be something similar to the following:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
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

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

I've never screwed one up, and if they have an OEM version that came
pre-installed, they won't have the CD to get into Recovery Console.

A better solution would be to boot from the Windows XP CD and rebuild the
boot.ini file from there, hand typed boot.ini files cause no end of

problems

 

[Alex Nichol]

I am missing my Boot.ini file and the message I get on start-up is "Invalid
Boot.ini File. Starting from C:\Windows"

Set the BIOS to boot CD before Hard Disk. Boot the XP CD and, instead
of Setup, take the immediate R for Repair. Assume any password
requested is blank, and TAB over.

Give
BootCfg /Rebuild