Invalid windows file (completed)

[celia]

Every time i switch my P.C. On i have allways got that black page with lots of print on it.That doesn't stay on long enough to read so have never known what it is.
Now that flicks of and i get another black page that says

Invalid Windows file Boot INI
Booting from C Windows file

I had to switch the P.C. Off 3 times to catch those 2 lines
What does it mean please,I think it started round about the same time i updated Internet Explorer

Celia

[downside]

The next time this happens you may want to try using the Pause key to capture the message and then write it down so we have more information about the problem.

So hold the Shift key and press Pause to freeze the error page.

Windows is loaded after reading a hidden file called:

C:\boot.ini

It is just a text file and it can be opened using NotePad and it 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 Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

Your one may vary if you have a different version of Windows.

[stanmapstone]

If you Google "Invalid Windows file Boot INI" there is an explanation on the Microsoft support site

Stan

[celia]

Invalid Windows file Boot INI
Booting from C Windows file

Downside the above is the only thing on the second page

I will try your suggestion of (On the First age)

The next time this happens you may want to try using the Pause key to capture the message and then write it down so we have more information about the problem.

So hold the Shift key and press Pause to freeze the error page

I often wondered what the Pause Break key did.  The page stays on a whole 2 seconds i will see if can can catch it

Celia

[celia]

If you Google "Invalid Windows file Boot INI" there is an explanation on the Microsoft support site

Stan

I will have a look at that if I can  find Google I have never used that

Celia

[downside]

Having read a bit more about this problem it would appear your original file:

C:\boot.ini

is corrupt and it is using the backup file:

C:\windows\pss\boot.ini.backup

instead.

If you right click the files above and select NotePad as the program to open them with, you can compare the contents of both files.  If the original file is either empty of missing then copy C:\Windowx\pss\boot.ini.backup to C:\boot.ini.

[stanmapstone]

If you Google "Invalid Windows file Boot INI" there is an explanation on the Microsoft support site

Stan

I will have a look at that if I can  find Google I have never used that

Celia

Sorry, it does not have to be Google  any search engine will do.

Stan

[celia]

So hold the Shift key and press Pause to freeze the error page

.
I freezed it I didnt copy it I took a photo but didnt get the top bit,when i did, twice they were blurred
It said american Systems something or other.What do you make of this,It might be a bit big but will delete it when you have read it.
Yes its to big 4 rootschat will make it smaller

[stevieuk]

Celia

Thats the post screen, there looks to be no problem with it.

It tells you that you have 2 IDE sockets/channels.

You have 1 IDE Master Hard drive, no Slave Hard Drive.

You have 2 Optical Drives, both a Master & a Slave.

Your HDD is a Maxtor.

You have a DVD Rom drive & a CD RW drive.

It tells me other bits but none are relevant to your problem.

Try Downside`s suggestion about using Notepad....