Questions about boot.ini

Hello fellow Wilders members,

I am bit confused about the boot.ini file:

- I know what the file is for and that it should normally be in the C:\ directory
[ I have my explorer set to show hidden files and folders]

- I have no problems or errors of any kind during the boot-up sequence.
[ I have a XP Home SP2 installation, single partition on a single hard drive]
[ Yes, I know that it´s best to separate system and applications from data, and will do that soon]

- The boot.ini shows up normally in msconfig, with the typical configuration.
In the general tab in msconfig the 3rd option is selected ["selective start" or something close...my system is not in english], with the box " use original boot.ini" ticked and with the option "use modified boot.ini" greyed out.

But:

- When I do a search for boot.ini, there is none to be found...!!?? Only a boot.ini.backup comes up, in c:\windows\pss. Some googling brought up that this is a common situation, and that the system probably created a backup. But why has the original one disappeared ?

- Seeing the date of the backup I remember that I had been in msconfig at the time, disabling some unneeded start-up entries, but in no way did I mess with boot.ini... why did the system decide to make a backup ? Is there any software known to do this ?

- I have no problems of any kind during boot-up, but shouldn´t I have them, since the original boot.ini is not there ? [I´m not asking for troubles hahaha]

- I plan on setting up a dual-boot between XP and Ubuntu soon. Will the absence of this file interfere in any way with the GRUB bootloader ?

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Wishing all a good day,

Jomsviking

 

iirc its still in C:\ but its a hidden system file.

 

If boot.ini was missing, Windows should have alerted you of that during start-up. Try doing this...

Start > Run, then type:

file:///C:/boot.ini

into the Open box and then click Ok. You should now see boot.ini.

Hth,
Jo Ann

 

Thanks Jo Ann, I too have been wondering why I couldn't find boot.ini anywhere, and that did the trick

 

WSFuser and Jo Ann, thanks for the tips.

You were of course right: the boot.ini was still in C:\, otherwise I should have gotten some kind of problem/alert.

Although I had windows explorer set to show hidden files and folders, for the boot.ini to be seen and to come up in a search I had to uncheck the option :

My Computer > Tools > Folder Options > Visualization > Don´t show protected system files (Recommended)

Why the system decided to make a backup of boot.ini still remains a mistery to me, since I didn´t edit it. Maybe it is standard procedure when there is some change in the start-up entries in msconfig.

Again, thanks for the help.

Jomsviking

 

You can also get access to the file "boot.ini" this way :

1. Click on button "Start"
2. Click on "Control Panel"
3. Click on "System"
4. Click on tab "Advanced"
5. Click on button "Settings" of Startup and Recovery
6. Click on button "Edit" and this will open the file "boot.ini" in Notepad.

Quite a 'dangerous' area for less-knowledgeable users.

 

Glad I was able to help (working in the HelpDesk Dept., I've seen that happen a few times). Sometimes Windows works in mysterious ways!

Jo Ann

 

You can say that again.

If not for all the talented vendors and developers of security plus troubleshooting apps, Windows would be even more mysterious than you experienced.