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From George Walker's Presentation @ BuildOrBuy, Wed. 02-06-02.

Boot.Ini File Information

By George Walker

The following may be helpful in understanding the information contained in the Windows 2000 and Win XP BOOT.INI file. The file is a [ hidden, system and read only] file located in the first primary partition on the first hard drive. ( Drive C: ). The information applies to IDE & EIDE drives only which are connected to the IDE channels on the motherboard.

The basic BOOT.INI file follows:

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect

multi (0) will always be (0) for IDE Drives           

disk (0) will always be (0)

rdisk( ) will depend on the number of physical drives that are connected to the IDE channels.  Since there are two channels and each can have a master  and a slave drive, there can be four physical drives , thus the value for rdisk can be 0,1,2, or 3.   The value will indicate the physical drive containing the operating system that you want to load.

partition ( ) indicates the location on the physical drive ( selected by the rdisk value), where the operating system to be loaded is located. Values 1,2,3,etc.

HD Layout A

If the system folder (Winnt) is located in Primary partition #2  Partition value is 2

If the system folder (Winnt) is located in Primary partition #3 Partition value is 3

If the system folder (Winnt) is located on  the logical drive in the extended partition  Partition  value is 4.

  Primary partitions are numbered first if they exist.

HD Layout B

If the system folder (Winnt) is located in Primary partition #2  Partition value is 2

If the system folder (Winnt) is located on  the logical drive 1 in the extended partition  Partition  value is 3.

If the system folder (Winnt) is located on  the logical drive 2 in the extended partition  Partition  value is 4.

If the system folder (Winnt) is located on  the logical drive 3 in the extended partition  Partition  value is 5.

If the system folder  (Winnt)  is located on the logical drive 1 in the extended partition  Partition value is 1

If the system folder (Winnt) is located on the logical drive 2 in the extended partition  Partition value is 2

If the system folder (Winnt) is located on the logical drive 3 in the extended partition  Partition value is 3

If the system folder (Winnt) is located on the logical drive 4 in the extended partition  Partition value is 4

WINNT   is the folder where the operating system Kernel is located.

 ="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" is the text that will appear in the BOOT Menu.

/fastdetect  - Enter the operating system and load options

1. 314081 - The Purpose of the Boot.ini File in Windows XP:

2. 289022 - HOW TO Edit the Boot.ini File in Windows XP:

"Windows (specifically Ntldr) uses the Boot.ini file to determine which operating system options to display during the startup (boot) process. By default, Boot.ini is flagged as a read-only system. 

Typically, the Boot.ini file contains the following data:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt
[operating systems]
scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt = "Windows NT" /NODEBUG C:\ = "Previous Operating System on C:\"

"scsi(0)" means that the primary controller (usually this is the only controller) is responsible for the device. If there are two SCSI controllers and the disk is associated with the second one, the controller is named "scsi(1)".

If the system uses IDE, enhanced IDE (EIDE), or Enhanced Small Device Interface (ESDI) drives, or if the system uses a SCSI adapter that does not have a built-in BIOS, replace "scsi" with "multi".

"disk(0)" refers to the SCSI logical unit (LUN) to use. This can be a separate disk, but the vast majority of SCSI setups have only one LUN for each SCSI ID. "rdisk(0)" refers to physical disk 1 "partition(1)" in this example is the only partition on the first drive in the computer. If there are two partitions, C and D, partition C is partition(1) and partition D is partition(2).

A multi-boot parameter, if one is present, calls for checking the Winnt folder to boot from a specified SCSI controller's disk and partition."