How to Edit the Boot.ini File in Windows XP

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As the name boot.ini suggests, it’s one of the files that is essential for XP to boot up in the first place. This file can easily be corrupted, and may need to be changed. You may also want to change the contents of the boot.ini file for one’s personal preferences. Here’s how you can find and edit the file safely.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

A computer with Windows XP installed

Step1

First, lets find the boot.ini file. Right click on the My Computer and click properties

Step2

Then click the Advanced tab, and click settings under Startup and Recovery

Step3

Under System Startup click edit. This should open up a notepad document with the heading boot.ini.

Step4

It would be advisable to back up this file elsewhere before continuing. So go to file and save as and back it up to a secure location you can come back to if something happens.

Step5

In the boot.ini file, you should see something that looks like 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 Professional" /fastdetect

If it doesn’t, and your system has had issues booting up, you should probably change it to look similar to this one.

Step6

From here you can edit the timeout period on boot, which partition the computer defaults to, and add another operating system that can be selected on boot.

Tips & Warnings

You should probably keep a copy of the correct boot.ini file around in your restore CDs. If the computer ever boots with an error saying it can’t find the file, or it is corrupt, then you can easily pop it in and replace it.
Don’t edit this file unless you understand what each of the parameters are. If the file isn’t configured properly, the computer will not be able to boot into Windows XP and you’ll have to have a professional reconfigure the system.