XP invalid boot.ini when xp boots

Cross

Member
I have a dual boot XP/Vista. I recently formated my Windows XP C:\ drive and now have everything up and running on XP then I used VistaBootPro to restore the duel boot option via the BCD backup I made before I formated XP. Both XP and Vista run no problems but this error message I get when I boot XP is bugging me. It says "Invalid Boot.ini file booting from C:\windows"
I looked on the C:\ Drive for this boot.ini and could not find it and yes I disabled "hide protected operating system files" and enabled "show hidden file and folders". So I am really lost on how to remove whatever is going on. Anyone have any ideas?
 
Yeah the funny thing is they both run just fine I just get that error message for a sec as XP boots. I've tried using the repair feature on both the XP and Vista disks. Both say there are no errors. I read the link of the linked pages hehehe ummm its alot to take in im somewhat of a noob at this. I was reading in there that the partition that vista is on becomes the main system boot after you remove XP and reinstall, I think thats what it said anyway. I just checked the disk manager and the partition XP is on is still the main system, So thats kinda odd.

Anyway I installed that EasyBCD program and was looking at the diagnostics center tab and in there are "recreate missing/deleted boot file" or "reset BCD storage", but it says its for vista and I think my prob is with XP. Should I try doing one of them anyway or do you recomend something else? Here is the details of the windows boot thing if it helps

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
device partition=C:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {7ea2e1ac-2e61-4728-aaa3-896d9d0a9f0e}
default {0251a12e-aa3b-11dc-9959-b11763305388}
resumeobject {0251a12f-aa3b-11dc-9959-b11763305388}
displayorder {466f5a88-0af2-4f76-9038-095b170dc21c}
{0251a12e-aa3b-11dc-9959-b11763305388}
toolsdisplayorder {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}
timeout 30

Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {466f5a88-0af2-4f76-9038-095b170dc21c}
device partition=C:
path \ntldr
description Earlier Version of Windows

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {0251a12e-aa3b-11dc-9959-b11763305388}
device partition=D:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Microsoft Windows Vista
locale en-US
inherit {6efb52bf-1766-41db-a6b3-0ee5eff72bd7}
osdevice partition=D:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {0251a12f-aa3b-11dc-9959-b11763305388}
nx OptIn
 
My first piece of advice - If your systems are both working and this is just for neatness, don't do anything to upset the apple cart till Guru's around.

He wrote EasyBCD (and everything else here) and he'll know chapter and verse about what to do.

Looking at your attached o/p - You have Vista BootManager on C and Vista Bootloader on D, which is the exact opposite of what I have, and just goes to reinforce what I said about never knowing quite where things will end up.

Did you continue down the thread of Raul's guide to my addendum ?

You'll see there that what ends up being boot/system/active can vary with circumstance.

Anyway, have patience, Guru will tidy you up when he gets here. He's remarkably fast to respond in general, except if he's in exams or if it's snowing in Jordan !
 
Wow to me it looks like VistaBootPro did something screwy to your setup.

I dont think you should have 2 Windows Boot Managers in there. The BCD should do jsut fine with the Vista boot loader adn the boot.ini should work with that. But for soem reason it looks as if you have the boot.ini working and the BCD. So that is where the problem comes in. When you select the XP entry from the BCD it is missing some files. Like the NTLDR and NTDETECT so it says invalid while on another system it would jsut crash till you palced those files.

Then from there it continues on to find the original XP boot which is why it says booting from C:\Windows.

Mahmoud will have to fix this up. I think it will involve removing the first Windows Boot Loder entry and making sure all you XP Boot files are where they shoudl be.
 
Hi Cross, welcome to NeoSmart Technologies.

Well, that's lesson number one learned: VistaBootPRO creates more problems than it solves - you should always use orginal software (EasyBCD) - especially when it's free!

Sounds like your Boot.ini was corrupted/deleted, but by chance XP still loads.

You need to create a new boot.ini file in drive C:\ as outlined at Rebuilding Boot.ini - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki
 
Thanks guys I found I didn't even have a boot.ini on my XP drive but I didn't know what to put in there. Once I read Computer Guru's link I knew what to put and fix it, no more error on boot. Found another way to create the boot.ini right click "My Computer" then "Properties" click the "Advanced Tab" hit "Settings" under the setup and recovery section, once in there just hit the edit button :smile:
 
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