[digikiwi]

Not sure what caused this - I suspect some update - I'm not the only person using this machine (although only 1 user account).

The computer running xp mc2002 will no longer boot up off its own back. It gets as far as verifying dmi pool data.........update succeeded and goes no further. After searching around for solutions on my laptop I tried copying ntldr and ntldetect.com as well as a generic boot.ini onto a floppy. This allows me to choose boot into windows xp and gets me into the system.

Did that, did a system restore and everything worked fine. Just in case I copied the boot.ini from my C: to the floppy (see below). A couple of boots later the problem recurred.

So the big question: How can I fix this without having to system restore, having since downloaded some big proggy updates.

[boot loader]timeout=0default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS[operating systems]multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Media Center Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /TUTag=ZIZ87M /Kernel=TUKernel.exemulti(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Media Center Edition (TuneUp Backup)" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /TUTag=ZIZ87M-BAK

TIA for any light shed on this...

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Hello and welcome to Geeks to Go,

To resolve this issue, start the computer from the Windows XP CD, start the Recovery Console, and then use the Bootcfg.exe tool to rebuild the Boot.ini file. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Configure the computer to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. For information about how to do this, see your computer documentation, or contact your computer manufacturer.
2. Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer.
3. When you receive the "Press any key to boot from CD" message, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM.
4. When you receive the "Welcome to Setup" message, press R to start the Recovery Console.
5. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you have to use from the Recovery Console.
6. When you are prompted, type the administrator password, and then press ENTER.
7. At the command prompt, type bootcfg /list, and then press ENTER. The entries in your current Boot.ini file appear on the screen.
8. At the command prompt, type bootcfg /rebuild, and then press ENTER. This command scans the hard disks of the computer for Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, or Microsoft Windows NT installations, and then displays the results. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to add the Windows installations to the Boot.ini file. For example, follow these steps to add a Windows XP installation to the Boot.ini file:
a. When you receive a message that is similar to the following message, press Y:
Total Identified Windows Installs: 1

[1] C:\Windows
Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All)
b. You receive a message that is similar to the following message:
Enter Load Identifier
This is the name of the operating system. When you receive this message, type the name of your operating system, and then press ENTER. This is either Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.
c. You receive a message that is similar to the following:
Enter OS Load options
When you receive this message, type /fastdetect, and then press ENTER.

Note The instructions that appear on your screen may be different, depending on the configuration of your computer.
9. Type exit, and then press ENTER to quit Recovery Console. Your computer restarts, and the updated boot list appears when you receive the "Please select the operating system to start" message.

[pyron81]

Hello and welcome to Geeks to Go,

To resolve this issue, start the computer from the Windows XP CD, start the Recovery Console, and then use the Bootcfg.exe tool to rebuild the Boot.ini file. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Configure the computer to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. For information about how to do this, see your computer documentation, or contact your computer manufacturer.
2. Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer.
3. When you receive the "Press any key to boot from CD" message, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM.
4. When you receive the "Welcome to Setup" message, press R to start the Recovery Console.
5. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you have to use from the Recovery Console.
6. When you are prompted, type the administrator password, and then press ENTER.
7. At the command prompt, type bootcfg /list, and then press ENTER. The entries in your current Boot.ini file appear on the screen.
8. At the command prompt, type bootcfg /rebuild, and then press ENTER. This command scans the hard disks of the computer for Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, or Microsoft Windows NT installations, and then displays the results. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to add the Windows installations to the Boot.ini file. For example, follow these steps to add a Windows XP installation to the Boot.ini file:
a. When you receive a message that is similar to the following message, press Y:
Total Identified Windows Installs: 1

[1] C:\Windows
Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All)
b. You receive a message that is similar to the following message:
Enter Load Identifier
This is the name of the operating system. When you receive this message, type the name of your operating system, and then press ENTER. This is either Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.
c. You receive a message that is similar to the following:
Enter OS Load options
When you receive this message, type /fastdetect, and then press ENTER.

Note The instructions that appear on your screen may be different, depending on the configuration of your computer.
9. Type exit, and then press ENTER to quit Recovery Console. Your computer restarts, and the updated boot list appears when you receive the "Please select the operating system to start" message.

[digikiwi]

Hi Patrick

As load identifier I entered Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition and also tried Windows XP Media Center Edition but /fastdetect then resulted in Error: Failed to add the selected boot entry to the boot list
So where to now?

Additional information that may be relevant:

OS is on a RAID0 array of two SATA disks.

[wannabe1]

Hi digikiwi...

It looks like the machine is hanging while looking for a custom boot screen. Have you used Tune up to install a boot screen which is no longer available? The text I've shown in red in your boot.ini file point to the custom screen.

[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Media Center Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /TUTag=ZIZ87M /Kernel=TUKernel.exe
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Media Center Edition (TuneUp Backup)" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /TUTag=ZIZ87M-BAK

There are a couple ways to approach this. Do you wish to use the custom boot screen? Do you still have Tune Up installed?

wannabe1

[digikiwi]

No I'm not attached to the boot screen (by the way it's still there when I boot via floppy). Yes tune-up is spot on diagnosis.

[wannabe1]

Do you have Tea Timer installed? If you do, uninstall it.

Open Control Panel and double click on the "System" icon. Under the "Advanced" tab, in the "Startup and Recovery" section, click on the "Settings" button. In window that opens, click on the "Edit" button. boot.ini will open. Click on "File" and choose "Save As"...save a copy of the boot.ini to the desktop with a different name such as boot.old. Then, in the open boot.ini file, remove the text shown in red below, click "File" on the toolbar, and choose "Save".

[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Media Center Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /TUTag=ZIZ87M /Kernel=TUKernel.exe
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Media Center Edition (TuneUp Backup)" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /TUTag=ZIZ87M-BAK

Close all open windows and reboot. Does the machine boot to Windows as it should having done this?

As a side note: Yes, Tune Up is an excellent application and I have recommended it's use on more than one occasion. However, anytime the initial boot instructions are tampered with, there is the potential for problems.

[digikiwi]

No it does not

[wannabe1]

Do you have a Windows XP installation cd?

What options do you see for booting when you boot via the floppy?

[digikiwi]

Do you have a Windows XP installation cd?

yes

What options do you see for booting when you boot via the floppy?

It's inconsistent. Sometimes I get option to select Windows XP or F8 (which is a deadend)
sometimes it boots up including the custom boot screen (that instruction is still on the floppy version).

[wannabe1]

I'm having a little trouble understanding why the modified boot.ini didn't allow the machine to boot properly...

Let's experiment a little if you have the time. For this we'll need the installation cd and your current product key. What I have in mind is a parallel installation of XP which will not include any of the third party software. This should add an entry to the boot.ini and give you a choice of what to boot to. First, we need to make one small change to the current boot.ini file. Open it as before and change the time to display to 30 as shown below in red. Save the file as before.

[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="Windows XP Media Center Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /TUTag=ZIZ87M /Kernel=TUKernel.exe
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Media Center Edition (TuneUp Backup)" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /TUTag=ZIZ87M-BAK

Then do a parallel install:

Boot to the Windows XP installation cd by pressing a key when the "Press any key to boot from cd" prompt appears at the top of the screen.

• At the "Welcome to Setup" screen, press Enter to set up Windows XP.
• Accept the License Agreement by pressing F8
• With your current installation selected in the box, press Esc
• Select C: Partition1 [NTFS] in the box and press Enter
• To continue setup using this partition, press C
• Now you should see formatting options...choose the last one, Leave the current file system intact (no changes), and press Enter
• To use a different folder, press Esc
• Name the folder WINDOWS0 (just type a 0 (zero)) and press Enter

The Windows installation should begin. This will install Windows to a new folder, leaving your data intact. Any programs installed on the old directory will have to be reinstalled to the new one. Device drivers will also have to be installed for all the hardware to work as it should.

The data will be located in the Documents and Settings folder (C:\Documents and Settings) under your old user account name...so when you set up the new installation, give yourself a slightly different user account name.

Once this completes (DO NOT activate this install) let me know if: 1) You are given the boot options when you start the machine, and 2) Does it boot to the new installation properly when it's chosen from the options.

[digikiwi]

Don't have time for this at the moment but can try it tonight my time. Thanks for the helping hand so far.

[digikiwi]

It's a weird one, this issue. Today when I rebooted I got nothing a couple of times and then the F8 options returned. I set to last working configuration and it booted up fine, without the floppy disk with boot.ini on it.

I suspect it's not the last of this issue but if it works I'll go with that for now. I don't really have time to install another OS on another disk.

Thanks for your excellent advice, as always, Wannabee

Digikiwi