Boot the norton pm disks, select the windows partition, and check that it is. The file i is a microsoft initialization file found on the microsoft windows nt, microsoft windows 2000, and microsoft windows xp operating systems. All of the boot menu options in windows xp are stored in the i file in the root of your boot drive, usually the c. Building and using a windows xp boot disk techgenix.
Available switch options for the windows xp and the windows server 2003 i files. Windows xp boot disk for windows free downloads and. This method involves modifying a very important boot configuration file. When the system restarts, boot back to the e2b usb drive again if. How to repair or replace i in windows xp easy lifewire. Each of the articles above contain examples of a boot. It usually offers users the option to choose a system to access when they have installed multiple. Recovery console start with the repair console press the f10 key at startup or boot disk to install windows. The windows xp layout windows xp directory structures. The ntldr file uses information in the i file to display the bootstrap loader screen from which you select the operating system. It has important information on where windows xp is located in which hard drive and in which partition. It usually offers users the option to choose a system to access when they have installed multiple operating systems on the computer.
Quickly edit the i file in windows xp techrepublic. Available switch options for the windows xp and the. If you installed windows 2000 pro, instead of windows xp, then the \windows portion would be \winnt instead. Apr 16, 2018 this stepbystep article describes how to manually edit the boot. You can add many different switches to the i file that will modify the way that microsoft windows xp or microsoft windows server 2003 start. Ntdetect failed i invalid invalid i note that these files are vital to boot.
The i file is a text file that contains the boot options for computers with bios firmware running ntbased operating system prior to windows vista. How to manually edit the i file in a windows server 2003. Hp laptop full factory restore e2 14 17 folio g1 g2 1020 840 550 15t 17t 15z reinstall windows. If problems occur with this file, see how to repair or replace boot.
The following is a sample of the same i file after the addition of another partition that runs microsoft windows xp professional. The default location for the os in windows xp and newer versions of windows is c. Mar 14, 2010 i had a dual boot win xp and windows 7. Xml is merely a way to organize information, and although xml files are readable as text, to get the most from the information, you should use an xml reader, such as the event viewer program if you find the file i on your windows xp computer, you can enable boot logging by. Issues with i can prevent windows xp from starting properly. For a complete list of i parameters, see available switch options for the windows xp and the windows server 2003 i files topic on the microsoft support website. The descriptions of the windows operating systems in the menu may vary.
After easyre scans your computers drives, identify and select the drive letter for your windows installation from the list, and then click on the automated repair button to begin. If you are changing boot options for modern versions. Solved where is the location of the file i in windows. This stepbystep article describes how to manually edit the i file in a windows server 2003 environment. To see a windows only i file with options here is one which offers windows as a default and, optionally, the recovery console from the windows setup cd disk. All of the boot menu options in windows xp are stored in the boot. How to repair your windows xp pc with your bootdisc. I have already tried just about everything i could, so if you think of something, i probably tried it. Easy instructions on repairing or replacing the i file in windows xp. A common file called i in windows xp details the specific location of the windows xp installation. Once an operating system was chosen would then take over to detect continue reading what happened to my boot. It appears that there is a i file and its invalid, hence the warining from xp.
Ini but i havent found it on my original sp pro sp1 cd which is bootable. Xp froum, windows xp home edition version 2002 sp3 i cant find my i file using the search function only a i. For more information on the i file, see chapter 7, booting windows xp, p. Install xp using winpe one step process add xp install isos using winsetupfromusb. Setup disks for floppy boot install, windows xp professional utility. If you need to make changes to the way your systems starts up, youll have to edit the i file in windows xp.
Nov 26, 2012 press ctrlaltdel to restart ntdetect v1. This file is considered a settings windows initialization file, and was first created by microsoft for the windows xp software package the release of i introduced for windows was on 10252001. How to repair windows bootloader problems if your computer. How to delete, modify or disable an incorrect or duplicate. Ini file, but i thought you might like to see my own since youll know for sure it is from a working windows 2000 system. Other files can appear in the system partition on x86 dual boot and multi boot systems. When you are prompted press any key to boot from cd, press a key. Reboot after windows guimode setup stage has completed if it reboots to e2b press f7 to reboot to the hard disk. Note these switches apply to microsoft windows xp and to microsoft windows server 2003, unless otherwise specified. The following sample shows the content of a typical boot. This document describes aspects of i that are of special interest to driver developers and testers. You should proceed with caution and always make sure you have backups of your files just in case something goes wrong.
I have to add the xp boot files back to my vista after i reinstall vista the system partition and just leave the xp. This file is always located on the root directory of the primary hard drive. For nt and ntbased operating systems, it also allows the user to pass preconfigured options to the kernel. Edit the i file to reflect the boot configuration of your target computer the one that will not boot. If more than one operating system existed the boot. May 11, 2005 if you need to make changes to the way your systems starts up, youll have to edit the boot. The boot sequence also uses various device drivers and the system hive.
The menu options are stored in i, which itself is located in the root of the same disk as ntldr. Use of disk compression tools like doublespace and drivespace or manually enabling file and folder compression on the boot partition can cause errors reading and loading boot. The windows 7 hard drive works, but windows 7 wont boot. Copy the files ntldr, and i from the root of the c. Jul 03, 2017 the boot sector can experience the same types of problems as any other part of your hard drivemissing files, corrupted files, and even physical damage. At startup you can choose which windows xp you want to boot too on the associated drive and partition. This program allows you to edit i, which is used to boot windows from 95 to xp. Boot options in a i file windows drivers microsoft. At startup, the windows xp boot loader, ntldr, reads the information stored to the i file to determine which operating systems the computer can boot.
Ini would provide the user with an operating system selection screen. Assuming that a missing or corrupt i file was your only issue, windows xp should now start normally. How to repair your windows xp pc with your boot disc duration. Search all of your drives for instances of i and let us know where you find them. If the i file is missing and you installed windows xp in its default location, the system will boot but will not display a boot menu. When the boot loader process fails, it will happen after you see the bios information but before windows actually begins to load. If you need to make changes to the way your systems starts up, youll have to edit the i file i n windows xp. For most, this should be very similar to your first boot. How do i edit my i file windows xp help and support.
If you are using xp home edition then change the second line of the boot. Prior to windows vista, biosbased computers running windows store boot options in a boot. This file is considered a settings windows initialization file, and was first created by microsoft for the windows xp software package. Apr 24, 2012 the three files in booting files in windows xp boot. Nov 30, 2004 you will also need the windows xp cdrom or an operational windows xpbased computer. How to rebuild boot configuration data in newer versions of windows in newer versions of windows, like windows vista, windows 7, windows 8, and windows 10, boot configuration data is stored in the bcd data file, not in a boot. The addition of these files does not affect the function or capabilities of the required windows xp boot files in the system partition. If problems occur with this file, see how to repair or replace i in windows xp. Ntldr allows the user to choose which operating system to boot from at the menu. This switch permits the system to load if you selected the wrong. These files are hidden, system, and readonly, so you will have to modify their attributes to copy them. Windows boot files and failuretoboot errors dummies.
Ini file the boot loader in windows xp to better control your windows configuration. The boot sector can experience the same types of problems as any other part of your hard drivemissing files, corrupted files, and even physical damage. Overview of the i file windows drivers microsoft docs. Find out how to make this process easier by utilizing the i tab in the. How to fix a damaged mbr master boot record in windows xp. Format the drive and allow xp setup to copy the files to the hard disk as usual. Although its safe to delete i files, windows recreates the file and apply default values to it. How to manually edit the i file in a windows server. Most log files are in plain text, but the text may be organized by using the xml, or extensible markup language. Ive seen references even in microsoft documents to boot. Microsoft windows uses this file as a method of displaying a menu of operating systems. The old way in legacy operating systems the boot sector boot strap loader loads the ntldr that would then look for the boot.
Insert the windows xp setup cd in the cddvd drive and reboot your computer from it. Make windows boot faster by editing i file techallica. Im from dos days and booting was fairly straightforward. Is it possible to boot ubuntu using the windows bootloader. Help and information with the file i computer hope. If you installed windows 2000 pro, instead of windows xp, then the \ windows portion would be \winnt instead. For example, if you install windows 7 in unallocated space on a computer running win xp and look inside the xp. Later versions of ntldr shipping with updated releases of windows xp sp2 or sp3 and windows server 2003 r2 can read i files. If you computer is windows xp based computer, you can use windows xp installation cd to repair the mbr. You wont get very far with a single floppy to start xp. Ntldr nt loader is the library to load the windows kernel at boot. Sep 21, 2010 what do the cd boot files look like in xp. This screen is based on the information in the boot.
This topic describes the boot options supported in windows xp and windows server 2003. How to repair or replace i in windows xp techwithguru. Find out how to make this process easier by utilizing the boot. It is located at the root of the system partition, typically c. The lowly i file is one of the very first files windows refers during the boot process.
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