Just reinstalled XP and now have 2 to choose from

Kittie Cat ---
Does it look exactly as it came out in the post above, or does the line with "default" in it actually end in "WINDOWS "? If "WINDOW" is on one line in your file and the "S" on a separate line, fix it so that it says "WINDOWS" on the same line.

I may be barking up the wrong tree, but I'm running out of ideas

 

1 folder/1 drive, C: drive

 

Abraxis- its different

the "windows" is all on one line.

There are five lines total.

bootloader
timeout 3
default
operating system
multidisk

 

Well, since your earlier version of the boot.ini file specified the (2) partition for one version, I am left wondering how that happened if there is no Windows folder installed on the D: drive, which is your (2) partition.

The fact that it did create the boot.ini makes me wonder what it may have done to the other bootloader files and the MBR.

Have you ever made a DOS boot disk, the one that XP allows in the A: format utility? If so, you could get the bootloader files from it to copy and replace your existing. Of course it would have had to have been made when you had a healthy booting system.

Then you may also try booting to the Recovery Console and running the fixboot and fixmbr commands from the command line.

If none of that works, your easiest out may be to back up your treasures and wipe that drive clean. Then install anew. I would much rather find and fix the problem but I don't have a clue and it's not all that easy if not sitting in your seat.

That's all I can think of for the moment.

 

I don't know if any of this will help, I didn't read it all but you may want to give it a peek:

http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;Q289022/

and

http://www.windows2000faq.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=20784

and

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/ddtools/hh/ddtools/bootini_04xf.asp

 

I just substituted your boot.ini information for mine (renamed my file and pasted the info from your earlier post, correcting for the wrapped "S ") and it booted just fine from your info. Considering there is some difference in that one line, it didn't seem to matter.

That proves it pretty well, obviously that isn't your problem file.

 

FIXBOOT


FIXMBR

More grist for the mind boggling task at hand.

Running Msconfig > Boot.ini tab > Check All Boot Paths button might give you some insight.

 

Well, Kittie Cat , there you have it.

These guys have made some very good suggestions. I know that I wouldn't be able to let this rest until I tracked it down, and I would probably have saved everything, wiped the drives, and reinstalled by now.

It would be a good idea to save what you want anyway. Any of these, or many other, procedures are not fool-proof.

So, your options seem to be:

1.) Reinstall after a format.
2.) Try running fixmbr and fixboot from the Recovery Console and see what happens.
3.) Set your timeout on boot to 0, provided it boots to your default OS without problems, and ignore the first screen!

 

Well, I don't know what did it.

But, it worked. Maybe it was changing the "s" on the end of "windows" to one line..... but it isn't doing it anymore. Very strange..... I don't know what happened, I just rebooted and it was gone@#@$#%

Go figure!!

Thanks everyone!!

 

Kittie Kat, I'm not one to argue with winning points but you never indicated that you ever had the "S" on a different line in the boot.ini file. That is merely a restriction imposed by the BBS here when you post the contents of that file.

But anyway, more's the better. If it works, we'll have to quit trying to fix it and just enjoy the moment.

I would like to know why it happened but I don't think it's in the books.

Good luck.

 

Or it could have happened when I installed the recovery console? I didn't do those commands, just rebooted and it seemed to be gone. Now my options are the WinXP and the Recovery Console.....

I swear I didn't leave anything out!!! I don't know what I did. I was just ready to leave it alone! LOL!!

 

You must get some lottery tickets!!

 

You know what?

I HATE it when that happens!! That is what happened when I was trying to get these two comps networked.... I don't have a CLUE what I did, it just all of a sudden started working!!! Now I need to do it again and I haven't the faintest idea of how to network these! I hate that!!!

 

I know what you mean. you never learn anything that way!

I'm just going to dismiss this and consider that it's possible that you didn't save the changes when you edited the boot.ini file. But then did you even edit it? Don't answer, I don't need to know. Cheers.

 

I realize the restrictions on the way posts are displayed, Zephyr , but I did tell her to copy and paste. When I tried it myself, it pasted just as displayed on the bb---with the "S" on the next line.

Who knows?

 

Abraxas, since this is a Windows Help BBS, I think it stinks that you can't post a complete line of script that is very critical in configuration, without it being chopped and shredded by the arbitrary word length and line wrap rules imposed.

I've seen that happen with batch files, Registry keys, and any of several .ini files and it is very frustrating.

I'm sure there is some good reason for the limits, well actually I'm not sure, but I will be glad to learn.

 

Yes. Very frustrating.

Strangely, I tried editing that post to bring the "S" back up. It required a backspace, so there was a break between the "W" and "S ". If there had been no break, it would have at least pasted correctly.

 

The rule imposed is nothing longer than 50 continuous alpha/numeric characters. You can with certain other characters as you can see on this post but you'll not exceed it with normal characters.

Even with all the width this post has, look what happens when i paste one single line of text that exceeds 50 characters:

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS

Poof, got me again

{ "@@@@@@@ "; "@@@@@@@@ "; "@@@@@ "; "@@@@@ "; "@@@ "; "@@@@ "; "@@@@ "; "@@@@@@ "; "@@@@@@@@@ "; "@@@@@@@ "; "@@@@@@@@ "; "@@@@@@@@ "},@),@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@,@@,@@,@@)," ")

 

I see.

default=multi))disk))rdisk))partition(2)\WINDOWS

I guess it's not just alphanumerics.

[default=multi))disk))rdisk))partition(2)\WINDOWS]

 

With smilies disabled:

default=multi))disk))rdisk))partition(2)\WINDOWS