How to repair or replace the boot.ini in Windows
The boot.ini file is a hidden file that is used to identify what folder, partition, and hard drive you are on.
For a number of reasons, boot.ini can become damaged, corrupted, or deleted.Since this INI file contains critical information about how your computer boots, problems with it are usually brought to your attention by an error message during the Windows startup process.
The boot.ini file can be repaired or replaced if it has been deleted.
It takes less than 10 minutes to repair or replace the boot.ini file, but the total time could be much longer.
The recovery console can be entered.You can restore the boot.ini file with the help of the Recovery console.
When you reach the command line, type the following command and then press Enter.
The bootcfg utility will show you the results of the hard drive scans.
Add installation to boot list is the first prompt.Yes, no, and all at the same time.Press Enter if you want to type Y in response to the question.
The next prompt asks if you have a load.The operating system has a name.Press Enter if you want to type Windows XP Professional or WindowsXP Home Edition.
If you want to restart your PC, type exit and then press Enter.If you only had a missing or corrupt boot.ini file, then Windows XP should start normally.
In newer versions of Windows, boot configuration data is stored in the data file, not in a boot.ini file.
You can learn how to rebuild the boot data in Windows if you suspect it is missing or corrupt.
If you want a third-party program to repair the boot.ini file for you, you don't have to run the command above and follow the steps.It's not difficult if you follow the directions.Lots of the software that can fix the boot.ini file will cost you.
You don't need a software program to fix errors with the boot.ini file.When it comes to the way those programs work, each of them will be doing the exact same thing, even though there are probably dozens of applications that can do the fixing for you.You can click a button to have the commands written out.