Booting from CDROM to fix Boot.ini error - help

Question

I am getting an error message 'Invalid boot.ini file' and 'Booting from C:\winnt'.  This is in another thread on the Forum. I went on to the Forum and got a message back, but I am not sure of a couple of thing, and was hoping you could help. It says to boot from 'Installation Media'. So since the system came installed, with back-up CDs, am I correct to assume I must boot from the CDROM. IF SO: I would boot from the 'Dell Product Recovery' CD and in small print ' Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional' - Correct? If the above is correct then how do I trigger the computer on start up to boot from the CDROM. Also since I have two CD drives does it matter which one? Thanks

BBraxton · Answer

F2 to go into Setup   Find 'Boot sequence'   Highlight the CD and move it into the top position.   Esc to leave Setup and save changes.   Boot up again with CD in the drive. It should tell you to hit any key to boot from the CD.

MXM444 · Answer

I am experiencing the same 'invalid boot.ini fil' error.  If I follow the steps you outlined above, will my subsequent reboot allow me to restore my default Win2000 Pro files or will it re-install the entire OS automatically? Message Edited by MXM444 on 02-21-2005 07:34 PM

spsealion · Answer

I am in the middle of a project and as yet have not risked anything. It should work but have not tried. Based on the MS webpage one should be able to just fix the boot.ini file.

Let me know if you are successful.

spsealion.

MXM444 · Answer

i tried changing the order of the boot sequence last night after posting my message above, and it still did not work. i am still receiving the 'invalid BOOT.INI file" error and it is booting from c:/winnt by default.

please post any other solutions i should try. i will be researching this until i get a fix...

BBraxton · Answer

Are you able to boot and run Windows and it is just a matter of an error message?

MXM444 · Answer

Yes, I am able to log in successfully.  During startup, with a black screen and white, C>-looking letters, I receive this message.  It reads, in its entirety:   'Invalid BOOT.INI file Booting from c:/WINNT'   So, I did as you suggested and re-ordered the boot sequence.  Still happened.  I am not an IT professional, but I do work at an IT firm and know a lot of technical folks.  I asked someone here about the error - someone who's PC knowledge I very much respect, none-the-less - and he mentioned to me that my OS had irreparable errors and that he has seen that message and had to re-install the OS to resolve the issue.   I will check back incase you ahve any other suggestions, because reintalling is my last resort ( I would have to transfer 3Gb of mp3 files to another machine before re-installing).  Otherwise, I'll probably re-install this weekend sometime.   Thanks.

MXM444 · Answer

funny you should ask what my concern about this is...well, it actually is affecting ANOTHER problem I was trying to fix before this one.  I bought a fairly nice all-in-one PnP printer (HP 2610) that connects using a USB cable.  I am unable to use is because my PC won't accept the new hardware (yes, I said a PnP printer...I have no idea why it's happening)  The exact error, which I have previously posted earlier on this site, said: 'the required section was not found in the INF'.  So after hours of scouring support sites, I found what may be the problem in my situation - a missing Registry Key.  This would make sense because of my continuous virus scanning using a couple different virus removal programs.  SO, in order to restore all of my Registry keys, I attempted to boot from my Win2000 Pro disc and use the restore function rather than re-installing, obviously.  And this boot.ini problem is preventing me from being able to do that.  So, I started here in trying to alleviate THIS problem so that I could try to resolve THAT problem...

BBraxton · Answer

If it were my personal system then I would probably ignore that message as long as my PC still functions, something you must be feeling uncomfortable about.

Otherwise, if the ".ini" file is invalid, I would just do a "Search/Find" files and folders and enter the search

*.INI

or

boot.INI

and when I had found that file, just RIGHT click and do a Rename, change "ini" to "nin" (to do this you must have folder options set to Show all file extensions AND show hidden files. It will warn you that renaming will change function (you know that already). I would go ahead and do that anyway. By then, the next time you start the file will not be invalid, it will be missing (since by changing the name you made it go away).

By the way, before you go doing this, are you certain all critical Windows updates have been completed?

BBraxton · Answer

I have had installation problems with even "plain vanilla" HP printing devices. What I would be trying, first of all, is to delete (uninstall?) the device driver(s). For one thing, in general a USB device requires that you first install software, then (afterwards) connect the USB device.

The other thing is that sometimes the CD that came with the device may leave me with a problem but going directly to HP.com web site to download a fresh copy of the setup.

Does the all-in-one still fail to work?

MXM444 · Answer

good question. I should have mentioned first that, yes, I did in fact try to download the most recent set of drivers directly from HP.com. It didn't work.

I also know what your talking about in that the printer needs to be connected AFTER installing the software, and, I know for a fact that I did everything precisely how I was instructed to in the manual, and it didn't work the first time. Here is essentially the sequence of my efforts:

Installed software > PnP HP printer exactly in the order I was instructed to in the manual - Didn't Work (INF error)

Went to Add/Remove Programs & Hardware areas of my control panel...removed everything HP...tried re-installing - Didn't Work (INF error)

Asked a collegue at work about this...he instructed me to do just as you have, go to HP.com for newest driver set. Downloaded onto my PC...targeted that new set after uninstalling it all again - Didn't work (INF error)

Called HP support. On the phone with a nice Indian guy for about 1.5 hours. He showed me how to uninstall using the HP disk (util folder > CCC > Uninstall > Uninstall L1 > Uninstall L2 > Uninstall L3 > Uninstall L4)...Reinstalled exactly how the manual said to - Didn't Work (INF error)

Repeated previous step with HP help, only this time I did not connect USB as it instructed me to, but rather installed ALL software and then added new hardware manually - Didn't Work (INF error)

Called Microsoft support - my subscription to Win2000Pro expired. No help.

Started with these support blogs...

I really appreciate your interest in helping, but, as you can imagine I'm losing hope with my PC as it is. If you have any other suggestions, please do not hesitate to post something. I get emailed automatically when something is posted, so i will check back, but unless I can get any reason in the next week NOT to wipe my OS out, I'm probably going to resort to that. speaking of, do you know any informative site i can use as step-by-step guidelines for doing so? I've never done that in the past.

Windows General

Booting from CDROM to fix Boot.ini error - help

Was this post helpful?