Sometimes, you may receive an error “Invalid boot.ini file. Booting from c:\winnt and then after your PC boots normally. You are receiving this error because boot.ini is either missing or corrupted. To resolve this problem on Windows 2000 operation system, create a boot.ini file in C: drive with following contents:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT=”Microsoft Windows2000 Professional” /fastdetect
This is not applicable if you have Windows XP or more than one Windows operating system. In that case, boot using the Windows CD and when you see the “Welcome to Setup” message, press [R] to start the Recovery Console. If you have more than one Windows operation system then select the one for which you want to created boot.ini file. At the command prompt type the below command:
bootcfg /rebuild
The above command scans the hard disk for Windows installations. Follow the on-screen instructions to add entries into boot.ini for all Windows installations. If you have dual boot (installed two windows operating systems) then you will need to mention in [operating systems]. This will allow you to select the operating system during the boot.
Boot.ini works as a boot loader if you have installed multiple Windows operating system. But if you have installed other operating systems viz. Red Hat Linux etc. then it will install its own boot loader. For example, Red Hat Linux will install the boot loader called LILO. In case if LILO gets corrupted then you will not be able to boot in your Windows operating systems. You will need to reinstall LILO to fix the system boot problem.
Kailash Aghera
Good for people to know.