Boot.Ini broken

Hi,

I tried to clean a friends XP build from malware and suchlike. I had to boot to safe mode to run the Anti Virus (AVG then after uninstalling that, Nortons)and did this via msconfig boot.ini and selected safe mode.

Now the boot.inin tab is not there and there is a message that boot.ini failed and it boots to XP.

How can I fix boot.ini?

And why do any Virus scans in AVG and now in Nortons hang unless run in Safe Mode?

Many thanks

 

Boot to the Recovery Console and run fixboot. Fixboot /? will give you options.

Or, use this program to edit boot.ini from a floppy boot:

http://users.adelphia.net/~abraxas/dl/BootIniEdit.exe

 

Many thanks Abraxus. I have the program on a disk now and will try that tonight.

I have quite a problem even booting to safe mode as they have an ECS motherboard that goes to "Select Boot Priority" when you press F8. That's why I changed the boot.ini file to get to Safe Mode.

Also - wondered if anyone knows why no virus scans can be done unless in Safe Mode. Was the same for AVG and now for Nortons.

 

Abraxus - I just looked at the floppy that bootiniedit program created and the readme file says it is only for NTFS, this system is FAT32, it also says it is not for XP.

So if I use Recovery Console should I start with c:/windows and then type fixboot/?

 

Thanks Steve.

I also have XP Pro on my PC. Would I simply be able to copy my boot.ini and replace the broken one with the copy of mine? Or is the boot.ini more specific that that?

 

Thanks again. I am sure they are both on the default c:/drive.

I will try that first .

 

Editing the boot.ini is a relatively simple task, especially if the system is using the FAT32 file storage method. If Windows is unbootable, you can boot using a Win98 boot floppy with adequate utilities and proceed to run the edit from there.

Since you can still boot to Windows, it's even easier. You can use Notepad to open and edit it as opposed to using Edit.exe in command mode.

Here are examples of what it should be in a standard system and a system with hidden partition for Restoring an OEM drive respectively:

Code:

[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 Whistler Personal" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

If it's an OEM machine with a hidden Restore partition:

Code:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS= "Microsoft Windows Whistler Personal" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

Note: The space between the word Window and the letter s in those command strings is improper and is a result of the line wrap on this BB. Delete it if copying and pasting the text.

Also note that if your installation is not in the "Windows" directory, edit that command string as needed.

You'll notice that only the two instances of the partition number were changed to accommodate the hidden partition.

The text between the quotes on the command string is not an active command and is only used to display the selection on screen. It can be different and will not affect booting. The booting instructions are all contained in the command strings that begins with "multi" and "default." Changing the drive or partition number in those strings will direct the boot to the proper location for the the rest of the boot loader files.

If the boot.ini file is corrupt, it will be ignored and the MBR will look on the c:\ for the needed bootloader files (NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM). If found, booting will proceed, as you have witnessed. You will see a brief message to that effect however.

If however, the boot.ini is not corrupt but merely contains incorrect drive or partition numbers in the command string, booting will be attempted and fail. In that case you will be issued an error screen that give the reason for the failure. That can often be misleading since it will report that certain files such as HAL.DLL are missing and need to be reloaded. That's not the case, the files are there but the boot.ini is looking in the wrong place for them.

Your friend's boot.ini is obviously corrupt beyond use since the system ignores it and boots in spite of it. It's likely a simple syntax error and you'll see it when you open it in Notepad. Compare the command string to the examples I have outlined and all will become clear. If you can't spot the error, post the contents here for review.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I found that copying my Boot.ini file over to my friends PC has worked a treat

 

Glad you got it going.

Just a note about the bootini edit program linked above:

1) It was intended for NTFS. It is very unusual for XP to be on a FAT32 partition with the resulting loss of XP's security functionality and file system stability.

2) And it is intended for, and works very well on XP, NTFS partitions.