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Boot - Ini Microsoft

The document provides information about the boot.ini file in Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003. It describes how a mistake in the boot.ini file can cause an error message when booting Windows. It then gives instructions on how to rebuild the boot.ini file using the Windows Recovery Console to fix the issue. The document also explains what the boot.ini file is used for and provides a sample boot.ini file as an example.

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170 views

Boot - Ini Microsoft

The document provides information about the boot.ini file in Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003. It describes how a mistake in the boot.ini file can cause an error message when booting Windows. It then gives instructions on how to rebuild the boot.ini file using the Windows Recovery Console to fix the issue. The document also explains what the boot.ini file is used for and provides a sample boot.ini file as an example.

Uploaded by

pbramesh5724
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Boot.

ini file in Windows 2000, XP, & Server


2003
I made a mistake in my boot.ini on a Dell XPS computer (of course it applies to anyone with a
PC no matter what vendor) and was greeted with this error message:
Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem.

Could not read from the selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware.

Please check the Windows documentation about hardware disk configuration and your hardware
reference manuals for additional information.

The easiest solution to this problem was to:


1) Insert your Windows disk and when you are prompted, press R to enter the Windows
Recovery Console.
2) You'll then need to select one of your Windows installation and enter the Administrator's
password.
3) When you reach the command prompt, type bootcfg /rebuild and hit Enter.

If you need more help, I recommend this Microsoft Knowledge base:


http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314477

While going through that problem I learned quite a bit about the boot.ini file and ended up
writing this brief guide.

The boot.ini file format is a standard ini file that determines which Windows operating system to
load at boot, and also determines which Windows installations are available from the menu at
boot up. From Microsoft: "Windows (specifically Ntldr) uses the Boot.ini file to determine the
operating system options to display during the startup (boot) process"

Here's a sample boot.ini file from a Dell computer with XP Home and Professional installed:
[boot loader]
timeout=3
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 Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional"
/fastdetect

The first line, [boot loader] contains two variables, the first one, timeout, corresponds to the
amount of seconds to display the boot menu. The second value, default, specifies the Windows
installation that will boot if no other installation is chosen. In this case, the Dell computer
defaults to loading the Windows XP Home installation, on the first hard drive.

Multi refers to the type of hard disk interface. In this case it is multi, which means that it is either
an IDE, EIDE, ESDI drive, or a SCSI adapter with no built in BIOS. In other words, the only
time you'd replace multi, is if you had a SCSI interface with a built in BIOS. disk(0) refers to the
1st physical hard drive. disk(1) would refer to the second hard drive on that channel. rdisk(0) is
specific to SCSI drives, and is usually fine at 0. partition(1) means the actual 1st partition on the
drive, so in the above example, the Windows XP Home installation is on the first hard disk on
the first partition. Windows XP Professional is on the second hard disk, and on the second
partition on that hard drive. \WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" says that
the Windows folder is located at \WINDOWS and the "Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" tells the NTLDR boot screen to literally display "Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" as the selection. The final boot options we'll discuss are /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
which are flags that pass parameters to Windows when loading. The following list is from
Wikipedia:

/3gb - Allocate 3 GB of virtual address space to programs and 1 GB to the kernel; used for some
programs that require more than the standard 2gb allocation for user programs.
/basevideo - The computer starts up using the standard VGA video driver.
/baudrate=nnn - Sets the baud rate of the debug port that is used for kernel debugging.
/bootlog - Write a log file when Windows boots
/burnmemory - Amount of memory Windows is not allowed to use
/channel - Use with /debug and /debugport to have kernel debugging messages sent over an
IEEE 1394 (firewire) port
/crashdebug -
/debug -
/debugport=comx -
/fastdetect - Turn off mouse detection
/HAL=filename - Define Hardware Abstraction Layer to use
/kernel=filename - Use an alternate kernel on boot
/maxmem=nn - Set maximum memory Windows can use (use /burnmemory recommended
instead).
/nodebug - Turn off debugging; can cause Stop Error if a program uses debugging.
/noexecute=optin (DEP)
/noguiboot - Don't use the bitmap progress bar when starting up.
/nopae - Do Not Support Physical Address Extension.
/noserialmice:comx -
/numproc - Set number of processors Windows is allowed to use; useful if some processors are
failing or defective.
/onecpu -
/pae - Support Physical Address Extension.
/pcilock - Let the BIOS assign device addresses instead of Windows.
/redirect - Turn on Emergency Management Services on certain versions of Windows.
/safeboot - Enter Safe Mode.
/usepmtimer -
/userva - Specify additional memory rules in combination with /3gb switch.
/sos - Display driver names while loading.
/w95 -
/w95dos -
/year -

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