Invalid boot file loading from c:\windows

K

kdream3

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 17, 2004
Messages
128
So I get that message right after the mobo splash screen, then Windows will load like normal.

The boot.ini is as follows:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

Going into msconfig I click the Check all boot paths and it tells me that the last line does not refer to a valid operating system and it asks me if I would like to remove it.

I am on Win XP Pro and my local disk is D: and C: is a storage drive. What should I do, thanks for your help.
 
I found that my Boot.ini file was on my storage drive and not on my local drive. So just moving the file to my local drive D:/ should fix my problem correct?
 
You don't need to move anything.
You need to identify your system partition. The XP disk manager tells you that by showing the word "System" on the partition.

Now that you know which partition is your system partition, you can go back to the Boot tab of msconfig and delete the entry corresponding to the drive that is not your system partition. If this agrees with the option msconfig offered to delete, go ahead and let it delete.
That will take care of it.
 
I have 2 drives. C:\ is my storage drive, which the boot.ini is currently on. D:\ is my local drive or system disk as you say. If it's ok to have the boot.ini on my storage drive, I don't know whats causing the problem. The boot.ini seems right, it has rdisk(1) which is referring to my D:\ local drive where XP is installed. And partition(1) as there is just the 1 partition on the disk.

Msconfig wants to delete the last line of my boot.ini, is that what I should do? Sorry just being cautious as I don't want to mess anything up.
 
It is fine to be cautious. It is your computer and you are the one who will lose if something goes wrong. So, do not apologize for it.

It sounds like you have 2 physical drives. Each drive has only one partition. If this is not correct, please say so.
It helps if you post something like this:

First physical drive in the boot priority list in the BIOS: Contains 1 partition. This partition has drive letter C when booting to XP.
This partition contains data.

The other physical drive: Contains 1 partition. This partition has the drive letter D when booting to XP.
This partition contains the Windows folder.
 
Yeah I have 2 physical drives.

The D drive is first in boot priority. This is my local drive that has Windows installed on it.

The C drive just has data on it.

Both drives have only 1 partition on them.

My pc still boots, I just wanted to resolve this now, just in case something happens in the future relating to this problem.
 
OK

Next question: Are you sure there is not a boot.ini on D? You say your system partition is D. If there is no boot.ini on the system partition, Windows will not boot!
 
I went to windows explorer to manually find the boot.ini file. I had to make hidden folders/files visible etc., but I did not find it on my D drive. I looked on my C drive and there it was.
 
ss1la.jpg
 
Did you get this message at boot every time since you installed XP?
Or, did it start to appear at some particular time? When?
 
I had this setup for a couple years and never had any problems. About a week ago my video card died, so I just got the new one installed and this has started popping up.

When my video card died, I could hear my pc booting into windows but I would get a no signal message on my monitor.
 
Please enter the BIOS and swap the drives in the boot priority list such that your storage drive is first.
This can always be undone if there are any unexpected result.
Reboot. Do you still get that error message when you boot?
 
kdream3 said:
This is the D drive
Click to expand...


Boot loader files are on there, so that drive is the one that you SYSTEM sees as the primary boot drive (or identified as primary boot drive at the time when Windows was installed). You've obviously got the boot loader on one drive, and the actual Windows installation on another. To comprehensively correct the situation do the following:

  • Remove the 'Data' drive from the system.
  • Ensure that the Windows drive is connected to Primary IDE Master (if it's an IDE drive) or the first SATA port (if it's a SATA drive.
  • Ensure that BIOS is identifying that drive as primary boot drive.
  • Boot from the Windows install disk and repair the boot loader.
  • Reboot when done, and your rig should now be booting successfully.
  • Put the Data drive back in the system. You can safely enough delete any residfual boot loader files from it if you wish, but their presence won't be harming anything. They'll be simply taking up a small amount of storage space and no longer being used.
 
The message went away when I changed boot priority to the data drive first. But I guess catweazles solution would be the correct way to fix this.

Question, what would happen if I kept going as-is and not changed anything? Any potential harm?
 
When you installed Windows you gave boot priority to your storage drive. That is why it became the active partition.
This is how your system has been since the day you put it together.
When you switched your graphics card, you must have switched the boot priority in the BIOS inadvertantly. That caused the error message to come up every time you booted.

If you want to make the changes suggested to you by Catweazle, it may be a good idea to backup everything first just in case.
 
kdream3 said:
Question, what would happen if I kept going as-is and not changed anything? Any potential harm?
Click to expand...
If some day you disconnect your storage drive, your computer will not boot.

The solution to that has already been suggested to you.
However, I am not 100% sure of the impact of the suggested solution on the drive letters.
That is why I suggested to backup everything first so that you can undo the fix if necessary.
 
ok thanks for all the help, not sure what i'm going to do. I'll think it over.
 
If I were you, I would use the system as is until I do a fresh install or I need to remove/replace the storage drive.
 
kdream3 said:
Question, what would happen if I kept going as-is and not changed anything? Any potential harm?
Click to expand...

No. No potential harm. It's only really a 'nuisance' when you switch drives around, or deploy other OS's in multi-boot, or whatever.


I've had multi-boot scenarios on machines on numerous occasions over the years, and often had scenarios where the system was booting from one drive, and to an installation on a different drive. I've had situations where the original 'default' boot OS has been deleted/nuked, and the boot loader edited accordingly. Hell, I've even had rigs where the boot loader includes 'orphanned' entries for OS installations which no longer even existed, and simply set the default OS and then configured the boot loader to display the multi-boot menu for 'zero' seconds! None of that 'harms' anything at all with repsect to your practical day to day use of the machine. At worst, it simply introduces the tiniest of microscopic delays between the POST check on your machine and the loading of your default OS. It can be a little bit 'untidy', but it isn't really a problem otherwise.

:D
 
Thanks guys for everything :D. I have a little OCD when it comes to stuff like this and want it fixed. But as long as everything is working i'm happy with the peace of mind that it really isnt harming anything.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top