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Window’s XP’s boot.ini file is a hidden system file in your system’s root folder (it’s in the C:/ drive). By default, XP hides all system files to prevent unknowing users from screwing something up. Also, the file is sometimes set to Read Only.

Display Protected Operating System Files

We will need to display system files to be able to edit the file. To do so:

1. Launch Windows Explorer (Windows Key+E)
2. Click Tools -> Folder Options
3. Click the View tab
4. Untick the checkbox labeled: “Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)”
   
5. Click “Yes” in the Warning dialog
   
6. Click “OK”

You should now see the boot.ini file in your C:/ drive.

If the file is marked as “Read Only”, right-click boot.ini and click properties, untick the “Read Only” checkbox.

The Default boot.ini File

If you have a single Windows OS installed, your original file should look similar to this:
[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 Home Edition” /fastdetect
If you have two Window’s Operating Systems, it could look like this:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT=”Windows 2000 Professional” / fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Professional” /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

Breaking Down The Parameters

Before we start playing around with this file, let’s make a copy of it and store it somewhere for safe keeping - there is a reason why Microsoft hid it! Save your copy in the C:/ drive and name it something like: old_boot.ini.

There are two sections to this file: [boot loader] and [operating systems]. Let’s break each section down:

[boot loader]

This section controls how the boot loader will work. It specifies the default Operating System and how much time a user has to choose from one of the choices in the boot menu - if the boot menu has been enabled.

timeout

The timeout value specifies, in seconds, how long to display the bootloader menu and wait for the user to make a choice before loading the default Operating System. If you want to show the menu for 30 seconds, then set the value to 30. If you want the default operating system to boot right away, then set the value to 0. If you want the menu to be displayed forever and stay on screen until the user makes a choice, then set the value to -1.

default

The default value decides which of the operating systems listed is the default. This must be listed, even if there is only one OS installed on this machine! In my second example above, the current default OS is to multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT. If I wanted XP Pro to be the default, with a selection timeout of 15 seconds, I would set my options as so:
[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS

[operating system]

This section lists all of the Windows Operating Systems that are installed on this computer, and lists some options for each one. XP uses the Advanced RISC Computing (ARC) path to specify the location of the boot partition. In our example, the ARC path is:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT

The first parameter, which identifies the disk controller, should be 0. The second parameter, the disk parameter, should also be 0. The rdisk parameter identifies the disk number on the controller that has the boot partition. The numbers start at 0. So, if you have three hard disks installed and the second hard disk has the boot partition, the setting is rdisk(1). The partition parameter identifies the partition number of the boot partition. Partitions start with the number 1. The last section details the path to the folder where the operating system is installed.

To the right of the ARC path in the example is =” Windows 2000 Professional” /fastdetect. The text in quotes is what will show upon the boot menu. You could set this to whatever you want: “XP: Pirated Edition” The /fastdetect switch disables the detection of serial and parallel devices, which allows for faster booting. The detection of these devices isn’t normally required in XP, because the functions are performed by plug-and-play drivers, so as a general rule it’s a good idea to use the /fastdetect switch. The following table shows a few more switches you can use:

Switch	Discription
/BASEVIDEO	Starts XP using the standard VGA driver. It’s most useful if you can’t boot normally because of a video driver problem.
/BOOTLOG	Logs information about the boot process to the ntbtlogl.txt file in the C:\Windows folder.
/CRASHDEBUG	Loads the debugger at boot, but the debugger remains inactive unless a crash occurs.
/DEBUG	Loads the debugger at boot and runs it.
/FASTDETECT	Disables the detection of serial and parallel devices.
MAXMEM:n	Specifies the maximum amount of RAM that XP can use.
/NOGUIBOOT	Does not allow the XP splash screen to load during boot.
/NODEBUG	Stops the debugger from loading.
/SAFEBOOT:switch	Forces XP to boot into the safe mode specified by the switch parameter, which can be minimal, network, or minimal(alternate shell). In minimal safe mode, only the minimum set of drivers necessary to start XP are loaded. In network safe mode, networking drivers are loaded in addition to the minimum set of drivers. In minimal(alternate shell) the minimum set of drivers are loaded and XP boots into the command prompt.
/SOS	Displays the name of each driver as it loads and gives descriptions of what is occurring during the boot process. It also offers other information, including the XP build number, the service pack number, the number of processors on the system, and the amount of installed memory.

When you’re all done playing around, save the boot.ini file. The next time you start your machine, you’re newly created file will be used – but only if you’ve kept the boot.ini file name!

Example

If we want the menu to appear for 2 minutes, the default operating system to be XP, and the Windows 2000 splash screen to be turned off when we choose to load 2000, the boot.ini file should look like this:
[boot loader]
timeout=120
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT=”Windows 2000 Professional” /fastdetect /noguiboot
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition” /fastdetect

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