Where is my boot.ini?

[Mxd]

Hi guys,
I have some sort of annoying problem.

Recently I decided to reinstall windows vista on a new partition (because the old one was kind of instable).
My new install worked out very well, and I decided to delete the old windows vista partition, to use that extra disk space again. I wanted to delete and merge the old windows vista partition into my new windows vista partition.

This is where the fun begins...

Now, this gave me trouble with the boot process; I got the "NTLDR is missing" error, and I couldn't get into windows anymore. I assume this is because the important booting information was actually on the old windows vista directory (which I just formatted). Are my assumptions right so far?

I fixed this problem by installing an extra windows vista on the old partition to get into windows vista again. Here I tried EasyBCD to get the boot files correct, to finally get into my regular windows vista again. This all worked out pretty well. I fixed the problem, but I still have two windows vista installations.

So again, I tried to remove the extra vista installation, and I couldn't boot into my regular windows vista anymore. So I figured it must have something to do with boot files missing with my regular windows vista...

Is this story a bit clear at all?

Now here are my questions:
How do I know where the boot files are that are used upon startup? (For instance, I can not find any boot.ini file on my complete system, and that includes both vista partitions)
How can I get these files into my regular windows vista installation?
And how can I test if this actually works without having to delete (and possibly) reinstall windows vista again everytime?

Tnx in advance, Mxd

Addendum:

Oké guys, I understand that the title is a little deceiving since the problem isn't as simple as the title claims. But seriously, is there nobody with any help for me?

 

[Mak 2.0]

Okay you just posted. You have to give us some time.

The boot file that are used goes according to the Disk Management screen. That screen will tell you which is your boot drive. That is where your boot file should be stored to get the multi boot working properly.

Unhide all yoru files. Then just copy and paste them in the boot drive root.

You shouldnt have to reinstall Vista everytime. Just a simple reboot should work. We have documentation on all of this.

EasyBCD Documentation Home - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki

There is a topic for everything.

 

[Mxd]

Okay you just posted. You have to give us some time.

The boot file that are used goes according to the Disk Management screen. That screen will tell you which is your boot drive. That is where your boot file should be stored to get the multi boot working properly.

Unhide all yoru files. Then just copy and paste them in the boot drive root.

You shouldnt have to reinstall Vista everytime. Just a simple reboot should work. We have documentation on all of this.

EasyBCD Documentation Home - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki

There is a topic for everything.

tnx, but...

I don't want a multi boot, I am trying to get the first vista install deleted, but somehow my computer doesn't allow me

I've read the 'documentation' but there is too much info that is of no use to me to be usefull. I'm no expert, I don't know what is usefull or not. What I do know is that I tried to do it according to so manual, but this did not work.

The information you're mentioning is probably this:

There are a total of 2 entries listed in the Vista Bootloader.
Bootloader Timeout: 0 seconds.
Default OS: Windows Vista Business

Entry #1

Name:  Windows Vista Extra
BCD ID:  {c1884c6a-c121-11dd-a6ac-001f297a3e92}
Drive:  D:\
Bootloader Path:  \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows Directory:  \Windows

Entry #2

Name:  Windows Vista Business
BCD ID:  {current}
Drive:  C:\
Bootloader Path:  \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows Directory:  \Windows

Now Windows Vista Extra has to be deleted, and Windows Vista Business must be the only windows install. Why can I not make this simple job work?

You are telling me to just copy the winload.exe from the new install to the old install directory? Why would this work at all without changing the internal settings?
Somehow, I got the feeling that this winload.exe isn't the only information need for a boot... For one, there has to be a link to this file somewhere, and I suspect that it goes wrong with redirecting somewhere.

 

[Mak 2.0]

You will need a 3rd party tool such as GParted or Acronis Disk Director to delete the other Vista partition.

Since it sees the system as a multi boot Windows will tell you every time you try to format that partition that there is currently some of those files in use. Which is technically true cause they are attached to that drive for the boot loader.

So use a 3rd party tool like GParted and delete the partition or format the Vista Extra and then reboot. IT should go to Vista Business as long as that reads as the boot drive.

 

[Mxd]

You will need a 3rd party tool such as GParted or Acronis Disk Director to delete the other Vista partition.

Since it sees the system as a multi boot Windows will tell you every time you try to format that partition that there is currently some of those files in use. Which is technically true cause they are attached to that drive for the boot loader.

So use a 3rd party tool like GParted and delete the partition or format the Vista Extra and then reboot. IT should go to Vista Business as long as that reads as the boot drive.

as a matter of fact I tried to delete the partition with Paragon Partition Magic, when the first NTLDR error occured...

 

[Mak 2.0]

From my experience using Partition Magic is not that great. I would use GParted over that any day. GParted is free as well.

 

[Terry60]

Take a look at this guide for how dual booting and bootloader chaining works, and you'll see that when you installed your second Vista, it didn't include the boot files.
When you add a second Vista to an existing system, it adds an entry to the BCD of the original Vista pointing to the second.
That BCD was in the partition you deleted.
I don't know how you got an NTLDR error !
NTLDR is XP's bootloader and doesn't exist in Vista, the only way you'd get that error is if you overwrote the IPL in the MBR with Xp's version when you formatted the original partition.
You were right in your instincts to reinstall Vista to get the bootloader back, but you didn't need to go quite that far.
When you delete the unwanted partition (and the boot process), boot from the Vista DVD, but don't click "Install", click "repair my computer" (bottom left) then "repair startup".
Do this 2 or 3 times until it fixes the boot one step at a time, and your new Vista boots unaided.

 

[Mxd]

Take a look at this guide for how dual booting and bootloader chaining works, and you'll see that when you installed your second Vista, it didn't include the boot files.
When you add a second Vista to an existing system, it adds an entry to the BCD of the original Vista pointing to the second.
That BCD was in the partition you deleted.
I don't know how you got an NTLDR error !
NTLDR is XP's bootloader and doesn't exist in Vista, the only way you'd get that error is if you overwrote the IPL in the MBR with Xp's version when you formatted the original partition.
You were right in your instincts to reinstall Vista to get the bootloader back, but you didn't need to go quite that far.
When you delete the unwanted partition (and the boot process), boot from the Vista DVD, but don't click "Install", click "repair my computer" (bottom left) then "repair startup".
Do this 2 or 3 times until it fixes the boot one step at a time, and your new Vista boots unaided.

Tnx for your reply.
I tried this "repair my computer" once, but nothing changed, so I thought I didn't work for me. I didn't know that doing it several times makes a change. I'll try that, and you'll hear from me again
I'll also try this other partition software, tnx.

Addendum:

Take a look at this guide for how dual booting and bootloader chaining works, and you'll see that when you installed your second Vista, it didn't include the boot files.
When you add a second Vista to an existing system, it adds an entry to the BCD of the original Vista pointing to the second.
That BCD was in the partition you deleted.
I don't know how you got an NTLDR error !
NTLDR is XP's bootloader and doesn't exist in Vista, the only way you'd get that error is if you overwrote the IPL in the MBR with Xp's version when you formatted the original partition.
You were right in your instincts to reinstall Vista to get the bootloader back, but you didn't need to go quite that far.
When you delete the unwanted partition (and the boot process), boot from the Vista DVD, but don't click "Install", click "repair my computer" (bottom left) then "repair startup".
Do this 2 or 3 times until it fixes the boot one step at a time, and your new Vista boots unaided.

By the way: this NTLDR error occured after I was asked to reboot when using Partition Magic, so it probably has something to do with that program