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Author Topic: boot.ini file missing  (Read 21036 times)

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brett74

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    Re: boot.ini file missing
    « Reply #30 on: April 29, 2008, 07:03:05 AM »
    I have admin rights since this is my own computer

    patio

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    Re: boot.ini file missing
    « Reply #31 on: April 29, 2008, 08:08:59 AM »
    I have admin rights since this is my own computer

    This isn't always true...have you tried in safemode ? ?
    " Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

    brett74

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      Re: boot.ini file missing
      « Reply #32 on: April 29, 2008, 08:52:32 AM »
      nope not yet but I will. I bought the oem version of winxp sp2 from a computer store  I'm not sure if it's the same thing as being already installed on a computer when you buy one or not.

      brett74

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        Re: boot.ini file missing
        « Reply #33 on: April 29, 2008, 09:23:02 AM »
        okay I'll tell you guys what happened about 3 months ago I was over at a friends house and I turned on my computer without anything plugged in the mouse key board anyways when I realized that i turned it off immediately within a few seconds. Now would that have anything to do with what is happening now or is it just a coinincedence. that it happened

        brett74

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          Re: boot.ini file missing
          « Reply #34 on: April 29, 2008, 09:35:08 AM »
          okay I did a search and I did find the I386 folder where the boot file should be but it's not there.  I have a ntbtlog but other than that unless it's under a different name.

          brett74

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            Re: boot.ini file missing
            « Reply #35 on: April 29, 2008, 12:35:23 PM »
            I have a question when I go into driver cache then into the I386 folder I see a sp2  file there does that mean it's installed or do I have to install it. It's a winrar archive

            patio

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            Re: boot.ini file missing
            « Reply #36 on: April 29, 2008, 02:03:23 PM »
            The boot.ini file should reside in the root directory of C:...
            It won't be in the i386 folder as it hasn't been created yet.
            Boot into safemode following our instructions...next open Windows Explorer and go to folder properties and uncheck "hide system folders and files"...
            Then use Windows Search to locate the boot.ini.....
            If it still isn't showing up i'm afraid you're looking at a format and clean install of XP so back up your data and report back for instructions...
            " Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

            brett74

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              Re: boot.ini file missing
              « Reply #37 on: April 29, 2008, 02:58:27 PM »
              sorry guys I was doing the wrong thing and I found ntldr and netdetect there was one more check mark that I had to uncheck and I found them. I was going to try and post the file but it won't let me. I do have a file for config settings that's a boot file but that's empty too I also was able to look in msconfig today and for some reason i was able to look at the boot.ini file and that was empty too.
              « Last Edit: April 29, 2008, 04:57:39 PM by brett74 »

              dahlarbear



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                Re: boot.ini file missing
                « Reply #38 on: April 30, 2008, 01:53:51 AM »
                1.  Hide file extensions for known file types.  If you go back to the "Folder Options -> View" settings you were at earlier, "uncheck" the "Hide file extensions for known file types" settings and apply it to all folders; you will see the "file extensions" for every file that has one in Windows Explorer.  Within the "C:\" directory you should see the following files (upper/lower case doesn't matter) listed with their file extensions:
                    o  NTLDR
                    o  NTDetect.com
                    o  Boot.ini

                If you don't see "Boot.ini", I guess you don't have one.  If you see "Boot.ini", what is it's "size" in bytes?

                2.  Post contents of Boot.ini:
                    a.  Use "Start -> Run -> type "notepad c:\boot.ini" without quotes followed by Enter key.
                    b.  Notepad should open the "boot.ini" file (probably in read-only mode).
                    c.  From "Edit" pull-down menu of notepad, choose "Select All".
                    d.  Entire contents of boot.ini file should be selected (highlighted).
                    e.  Cut the file contents (via CNTRL-C key combination)
                    f.  Paste the file contents into your post (via CNTRL-V key combination).
                    g.  Close notepad without applying changes to boot.ini

                brett74

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                  Re: boot.ini file missing
                  « Reply #39 on: April 30, 2008, 06:23:37 AM »
                  that's the thing there's nothing there. I see the file and when I clicked it to open there's nothing there. It says 0 bytes
                  « Last Edit: April 30, 2008, 06:53:21 AM by brett74 »

                  brett74

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                    Re: boot.ini file missing
                    « Reply #40 on: May 03, 2008, 04:39:46 PM »
                    I see the boot.ini file icon and when I open it there's no text in there. So what I'm asking if I can find a boot.ini file can I just copy and paste it there  I'll edit it if necessary.

                    dahlarbear



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                      Re: boot.ini file missing
                      « Reply #41 on: May 04, 2008, 03:26:42 AM »
                      The short answer is "yes", but you need to get the syntax correct and may have to temporarily remove the "read-only" attribute of the file, if set.  If the operating system is installed to the first partition (1) on your first or only hard drive (0), the following basic "boot.ini" should work:
                      Quote
                      [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="Windows XP Home" /fastdetect

                      To identify your operating system, you can replace the string "Windows XP Home" with any text you wish; e.g. "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition".  If you do the background reading, you'll see that you can add additional lines to invoke the same operating system with different options.  A useful addition would be an invocation line that starts the operating system in "Safe Mode".

                      If you read very carefully, you'll find you can install the Recovery Console to your hard drive as an additional boot menu option.  The advantage being you may be able to boot to Recovery Console without breaking out the Windows XP CD.

                      As mentioned in an earlier reply, you can also use the "bootcfg /rebuild" command from the Windows XP Recovery Console to generate a "boot.ini" file.

                      Some background references:
                          How to rebuild the Windows boot.ini
                          Additional information and help with the boot.ini
                          Display a Custom Boot Menu Every Time You Boot Windows XP
                      « Last Edit: May 04, 2008, 03:54:39 AM by dahlarbear »