Invalid Boot.ini File

Everytime i boot my PC, just before i get to the Windows Loading screen, i get a message saying

"Invalid Boot.ini file
Booting from C:/Windows "

It boots up fine but when i go into Msconfig, there is no boot.ini tab (i use this for loading safe mode). The first time it happened i got the message saying "You have made changes.... (whatever it says when you edit msconfig) ", but i can't remember what exactly if anything i changed.

Should i do a system restore?

Thanks,

Alex

 

Also, when i go to My computer --> Advance --> Startup & Recovery, i get a message saying "C:/boot.ini file cannot be opened. Operating system and timeout settings cannot be changed "

In case thats any help!

 

re

Hi there i am Gareth i am only 15. I can proberly help you.
Click Start > Run > msconfig

Now
Click Boon.ini > Click Check Paths

If you get an error saying cannot find specified path. There will also be a comfermation box saying do you want to delete the specified path click yes as this may be the problem.
If you are unsure on what the computer is asking you to do.

Dont click yes but take a screen shot and post it here and let me have a look at it for you.

As you said there is no boot.ini file there. You may have deleted it.
If you go to the C Drive and go a search in it for boot.ini or boot.*
You might be able to find it. If you do open it and reply with all the information what is there.
If you see somthing like
$!$ Windows Setup $!$ open d:/setup
Somthing like that remove it from the boot.ini file. Once you delete that then save the boot.ini file and restart your comp and it should work.

- Gareth

 

Thanks, but i got it fixed.

There was no boot.ini file, somehow it had been deleted or something... so i coudln't edit anythnig in Msconfig.

I fixed it by writing my own boot.ini with the following lines:

[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 Home" /fastdetect

That did the trick and it's all top notch now!

One more thing, is there anyway to make the new boot.ini file dissapear. it used to not be visisble because it was a system file and was therefore hidden away unless you specifically asked to see system files. At the moment i can only make it a hidden file, but thats not really any help as i always have hidden files viewable. Is there any way to make it a system file so it's hidden?

 

Hi Alex,

Do have Hide protected operating system files checked in the Folder Tools > View tab?

FYI: there is a boot.ini backup in \WINDOWS\pss\boot.ini.backup

Regards - Charles

 

yea, its on. But because i wrote it myself in notepad it doesn't see it as a system file, so it won't hide it. it's not a huge problem but i would rather not see it in case it gets deleted and causes problems like other system files.

Thanks

 

To make any file 'system' open a cmd window as
Start-R, type cmd, enter.
For boot.ini, at the prompt type cd \ enter (assuming you're on the boot drive - otherwise first type the drive letter followed by a colon, as C: enter).
Then at the c:> prompt type attrib +s boot.ini enter
Other switches are h, a and r for hidden, archive and read only and + sets the attribute, - unsets it. Attrib filename will tell you what the attributes are for filename.

Can use several attributes at once, as attrib -s -h -r boot ini

 

Right, well i set it's attributes to system file, but it still does not dissapear along with all the other system files when explorer is set to hide "protected operating system files ". Any reason for this?

 

Hi Alex, have you rebooted since?

Also, if you right click on it > properties > attributes, is the Hidden box checked and the Read only unchecked? The Hidden box may be greyed out.

Regards - Charles

 

Ahhh... too much hassle. It works well enough.

Thanks a lot for the help guys.