Invalid BOOT.INI (dual boot XP with 7)

Question

I had Windows XP x64 as my main system, and i also had a second partition with Windows XP x64. Both booted from first partition (C:)

I then installed Windows 7 Ultimate on the first partition. I've added NTLDR using BCDEDIT. I've also copied NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM and BOOT.INI onto the drive where XP remained. However then i try to boot into Windows XP x64 i get

Invalid BOOT.INI file
Booting from c:\windows\
NTDETECT failed

I found instructions on how to fix it using a boot disk, however the partitions are on a software RAID. I've tried to boot from a customized XP CD with the drivers, however it does not offer me a Repair option for some reason - just setup.

Partitions that i have:'=

• System Reserved
• Main (Windows 7)
• Secondary (Windows XP x64)

Here's the contents of my BOOT.INI:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional x64 Edition" /fastdetect

Answer 1

It seems like the repair isn't showing up because the CD doesn't see the XP OS.

1.Boot with your custom XP CD with drivers.

2. Press R to load the Recovery Console.

3. Type bootcfg.

4. This should fix any boot.ini errors causing setup not to see the XP OS install.

5. Try the repair install.

Answer 2

I would let the freeware tool EasyBCD try and fix this for you.

Boot into XP/Vista/7/Ubuntu/OS X and more! Boot from USB, Network, ISO images, Virtual Harddisks (VHD), WinPE, and more! Repair the Windows bootloader, change your boot drive, create a bootable USB, and more! Rename entries, set default boot target, change BCD timeout, hide the boot menu, and more! Create your own custom boot sequence, hide drives on boot, backup and restore configurations, and more!

Answer 3

Follow David Smith's advice and go to the recovery console. Once there however, run these commands instead of just bootcfg to repair any of these issues:

• Windows Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL)
• Corrupt registry hives
• (\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\xxxxxx)
• Invalid BOOT.INI files
• A corrupt NTOSKRNL.EXE
• A missing NT Loader (NTLDR)

There are eight commands you must enter in sequence to fix MOST Windows XP boot problems.

These commands are as follows:

1. C: CD ..
2. C: ATTRIB -H C:\boot.ini
3. C: ATTRIB -S C:\boot.ini
4. C: ATTRIB -R C:\boot.ini
5. C: DEL boot.ini
6. C: BOOTCFG /Rebuild
7. C: CHKDSK /R /F
8. C: FIXBOOT

Answer 4

Have you already investigated this forum that indicates Software RAID in XP (specifically Pro) is a bad idea?

http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14727

Answer 5

I had a very similar issue that persisted inspite lots of attempts to rebuild the boot ini file, MBR etc using the recovery console; and lots of messing about with easyBCD. In the end I solved the issue by ensuring that the actual ntldr in the root folder was compatible with the version of XP Pro SP3 I was using. I did this by searching for the latest ntldr version in the windows update folders in my Windows XP installation and simply replacing the defective one in the root folder with the most up to date one. It appears that EasyBCD had written an older version which was causing the boot ini error message regardless of how correct the arcpaths were. Hope this helps.