Very few users, of course, besides the system engineers, imagine what a certain incomprehensible boot.ini file is, even seeing such a startup line in the menu of the same name called by the msconfig command. Let's see what kind of file it is and what it is used for.
What is boot.ini file in OS
In general, if anyone does not know, it is the file called boot.ini that serves one single purpose - loading the operating system. At the same time, it is sometimes possible to meet the options for installing several OSs on a computer (in this case, we are talking about the "OSes" of the Windows family, since in any other OS such a download file is called differently and has a completely different extension).
Fundamentally for any OS, names do not play a role. The fact is that the file itself simply indicates the boot path of the operating system. If there are several installed systems, the bootloader will work, which will prompt you to load this or that OS from the configuration specified in the boot.ini file. It is also interesting that the file itself is also a manager, an intermediary for the launch of operating systems.
Information stored in a file
Now let's try to consider what is the information that is responsible for loading Windows. In the standard version, if there is only one OS on a computer terminal or laptop, the appearance of the file can be reduced to the presence of standard text and the commands specified in it. For example, to download from the contents of the boot.ini file of XP versions and service packs of Windows, standard content is used.
As you can see even with the naked eye, there are several basic parameters. By the way, they are available in all versions of boot files for various modifications of the Windows OS itself. Differences can be observed only in the basic boot parameters of Windows NT discharge systems, which were originally created as server versions and are designed to work on a local network.
First of all, this is the timeout - timeout (response, timeout), which in any OS, as a rule, has a value of "30" by default. In other words, this is a delay of 30 seconds. Sometimes you can find other values ​​of this parameter.
For example, with a given value of “0”, the boot menu will not be displayed at all, and with a value of “1” it will “hang” on the monitor indefinitely.
The value assigned to the “default C: \” parameter is the default path to the operating system startup tool (usually from the C drive, as indicated by the default letter). The system itself, or rather its main components, are located in the Windows folder in the root directory of the disk.
If several “operating systems” are used on the computer, such a parameter may change. Moreover, it does not matter whether the same Windows or Linux OS will be adjacent. The lines will simply contain the specified paths, and then, as they say, the choice is up to the user.
A simple example would be to use two systems, say, Windows Millennium and Windows XP, when the file looks like this:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = C: \
[operating systems]
C: \ = "Windows Millennium Edition"
multi (0) disk (0) rdisk (0) partition (2) \ WINNT = "Windows XP <br /> Professional" / fastdetect
Commands of the “multi” type are used only if there is a system interrupt in the BIOS for disks like IDE, ESD or SCSI, as well as when choosing to load one of the installed OS. Lines like “rdisc (0)” or “partition” almost always have a value of zero and indicate that the interrupt cannot be used for several disk controllers, or it shows the serial number of the disk or logical partition from which, in fact, the selected At the moment, "OSes."
File location
Now consider the burning question of where the boot.ini file is located. Firstly, it is worth saying that finding the file itself in any system, whether it be Windows NT or other versions of OS, is not so simple. The thing is that the file itself is hidden from the user's eyes so that it (God forbid) does not change anything in it.
But experienced users know that first you need to enable the full display mode of absolutely all files and folders hidden by Windows developers for security purposes, and only then look for the file you are looking for. In principle, an ordinary user can also access it. To do this, just use the "Tools" menu, where there is a transition line "Folder Options". Having entered the menu, you need to use the “View” tab, ticking the “Show hidden files, folders and drives” option (the paths are indicated for Windows 7).
Only after that it will be possible to find out where the boot.ini file with all its parameters is located. The standard place is the root drive “C” (naturally, if it is installed on it “OS”). In addition, it is worth paying attention to the attributes. By default, the Read Only attribute is set. This is done only so that the user with his inappropriate, and sometimes completely unforeseen or accidental actions could not delete it or edit it in such a way that starting any system installed on the computer will become completely impossible.
Boot.ini file in different versions of Windows
As for the content and the place where the file itself is stored, in principle, it does not matter. The boot.ini file itself is a kind of conditional initializer that is loaded into the memory of the computer system before the start of the "OS", offering a choice of what exactly needs to be loaded.
By the way, many boot managers also work in a similar way, used in the event of a complete “crash” of Windows or the presence of viruses that cannot be removed in the standard way. This is especially true for RAM, when the virus blocks the launch of applications, loading the RAM and the central processor as much as possible with system requests.
Download Using Initializer
As already clear, you can download any OS installed on a computer terminal without any problems. For example, to boot the system by default, it is enough to use the prescribed path in the boot file.
You can do otherwise by prioritizing the loading of the "OS" of any other type from the desired section. By installing the appropriate boot clients, commonly referred to as boot managers, you can achieve even more. The fact is that (as expected) they will start even before the selection of systems is started. So there you can choose anything. Moreover, such boot managers download Windows.ini boot.ini files automatically, making adjustments to the contents of the boot file.
File editing
As for changing the parameters and editing the file itself in the same Windows 7 system, the boot.ini file (as in any other OS) opens quite simply. Do not look that it has a system extension, you can open it in a regular standard application of any “OS” called “Notepad”. Yes, yes, you were not mistaken. The file itself in its content carries exactly text data, and any editor is able to process such information. The only thing you need after this is just to save the file in its original format and in the same place.
True, it is worth starting to create a copy of the original file. You must also take care of backup (backup) of the data of the hard disk, the image of the operating system or the standard recovery point of Windows.
Saving and Rebooting
It goes without saying that the changes made, even at a high professional level, will still not take effect without rebooting the system. Only after a restart, will the boot sector and the file itself responsible for the OS start (one or more of the list) be analyzed.
Warnings
As already clear, ordinary users with such changes need to be extremely careful. If they even know what the boot.ini boot file is, it is not recommended to change it in any case. Either advanced users who know a lot about installing “OSes” or system administrators who control the loading of the OS on slave computer terminals with predefined parameters can do this.
Actually, from all this we can understand that this text file is almost the main attribute of the system boot. Of course, it is wrong to believe that deleting it or changing it can lead to some very serious consequences (you can restore it), nevertheless it is better not to deal with such things, especially if you have not previously created a recovery point or a backup copy of the data or the system image.