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BOOT.INI FILE By installing Windows 2000/XP a boot.ini file is created or modified in the active partition (boot partition) of the system. The NTLDR software uses this information to show us in the start screen what operative system we want to boot. The boot.ini contains two sections: [boot loader] and [operating systems]. NTLDR will use this information to build the start screen of the system. Lets see the structure of a typical boot.ini file: 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='Microsoft Windows XP Profesional' /fastdetect multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)WINNT='Microsoft Windows 2000 Profesional' /fastdetect multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)WINDOWS='Microsoft Windows 2000 Server' /fastdetect C:CMDCONSBOOTSECT.DAT='Microsoft Windows Recovery Console' /cmdcons C:='Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition' The section [operating systems] is created during Windows 2000 /XP installation. Remember that the installation of different operative systems in the same PC, should always be done by release order. This means, the actual OS are capable of loading previous operative systems but not the other way, just because they didn’t exist when the operative system was released. To access boot.ini configuration in Windows go to Start, Run and type msconfig. Advanced RISC Computing During the installation the boot.ini is created or modified using the names or ARC: Advanced RISC Computing (RISC: Reduced Instruction Set Computing) An example of ARC is: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(3) Each name has its own meaning: multi(x) o scsi(x): The disk controller. SCSI is only used if it is a disk that belongs to a SCSI controller and whose BIOS doesn’t load in the start up. For the rest of them, including the SCSI with BIOS loaded in memory, the multi is used. “x” represents a number starting with 0 and indicates the order in which the adapter loads. For example, if we have two SCSI adapters in the computer, the first in loading and start will have a 0, and the second a 1. disk(y): The SCSI device ID. If it is “multi”, will always have a 0. rdisk(z): A number that identifies the physical disk (starting from 0, the one that corresponds to the first physical disk in our system). partition(t): A number that identifies the partition inside the previous physical disk. The partitions numeration starts with 1. They are consecutively numbered all the primary partitions that exist in our disk, and then the logic drives inside an extended partition if we have one. BOOT.INI Parameters We will describe only the most important ones. For the rest of the parameters you can look them in the KB of Microsoft. /basevideo The system boots using the standard VGA adapter. Is useful in case our PC denies to boot after a new video driver is installed. /fastdetect=[com x | like x,y,z] This deactivates the mouse detection in the serial port. If we don’t specify a com port, this parameter deactivates the detection of all the serial ports. It is included in every boot.ini entry by default. /maxmen:n Specifies the amount of memory to be used by Windows. This parameter should be used if we suspect that a memory chip is damaged. /noguiboot Boots without taking the graphic screen of the system start. /sos It shows us in screens the names of the devices drivers that are loading. We have to use this parameter when the boot fails to determine what driver is causing the error. Modifications in BOOT.INI We can modify directly the wait time and the operative system to boot by default from the Control Panel, or by clicking the right button of the mouse in My PC, properties and selecting Advanced. We can also edit manually the file with any text editor. Remember that the file has the attributes hide and read-only active, so if we want to see or modify them, we will have to take the attributes, or activate in Windows the option “Show hidden files and folders” (In Windows Explorer, go to Tools, Folder options) The boot.ini file is always in C:, independently the partition in which we have installed Windows. ( 1 Vote ) |
