Boot.ini file resolution under Windows XP

A friend with more than one operating system installed on the computer knows that a startup menu will appear after the computer has a self-test, listing all the operating systems installed on the computer, and using the "↑" "↓" button to choose which system to enter. In fact, it all stems from a file called Boot.ini, which has been in the Windows system since the beginning of Windows NT . Windows XP relies primarily on the Boot.ini file to determine which operating system categories the computer displays during the reboot (boot) process. Under normal circumstances, it is located in the C-packing directory, in the default state is a hidden read-only system configuration file. To view it, just remove its hidden attributes, open it in Notepad, or run Msconfig.exe in Start, and click BOOT in the System Configuration Utility dialog box that pops up. INI tab to get a glimpse of the truth. The following is based on the author's computer Boot.ini file as an example (Figure 1), to give you a detailed explanation.

　

Figure 1 Start menu before modifying

BOOT. The common format for INI files is as follows:

[boot loader]

Timeout=30

Default=multi (0) disk (0) rdisk (0) partition (1) \ Windows

[Operating Systems]

multi (X) disk (Y) rdisk (Z) partition (Q) \windows= "Microsoft WINDOWS XP Professional"/fastdetect

SCSI (X) disk (Y) rdisk (Z) partition (Q) \win98= Microsoft Windows/fastdetect

The file is divided into boot loader (boot loading) and operating systems (operating system) two parts. In the Boot load section, TIMEOUT=XX represents the time that waits for the user to select the operating system, which defaults to 30 seconds and can be changed by the user as needed. DEFAULT=XXXX represents the operating system path that the system defaults to load by default, which is displayed as a highlight section that waits for the user to select at startup. But what is confusing to many users is what does "multi (0) disk (0) rdisk (0) partition (1)" mean?

This is actually named after the arc rule, which is a common way to identify devices in a x86 or RISC computer. The ARC name points to the partition where the operating system files are located, and for the disk device, the ARC name consists of the following:

(X) disk (Y) rdisk (Z) partition (Q)

The component section has two valid values, namely, multi and SCSI, which are used to indicate the hardware adapter. Multi represents a non-SCSI hard drive or a SCSI hard drive that is accessed by a SCSI BIOS, while SCSI represents a SCSI hard drive that is disabled by a SCSI BIOS. The x value represents the serial number (x starting from 0) on the same disk controller where the disk that contains the partition on which the system root of the OS resides.

Disk (Y): For a SCSI hard disk, the Y value represents the hard disk number (Y starting from 0) on the same disk controller where the partition on which the operating system root is located is located; for multi, the Y value is meaningless and constant is 0.

Rdisk (Z): For multi, the z value represents the hard disk number (Z starting from 0) on the same disk controller as the partition on which the operating system root is located, and for SCSI hard disks, the z value is meaningless and constant is 0.

Partition (q): The Q value indicates the ordinal number of the primary partition on the same hard disk that contains the partition of the system root of the operating system (Q starts with 1).

The Operating systems section lists the paths and checklists for all operating systems on this computer, including some switches such as/fastdetect,/basevideo, and/sos. These switch characters have special meanings and are generally not recommended for change.

OK, based on the above knowledge, we should have a more clear understanding of the Boot.ini document. As a result, we can modify it as needed. Take the author's computer for example, BOOT. INI file shows that the hard disk contains two Windows XP Professional system (in fact, one for the Chinese version, one for the English version), by default, the boot drive on the third partition of the system (English version). If you want it to start the system on the first partition of the hard disk by default (Chinese version), and to differentiate, two windows XP Professional are labeled separately. At this point, we can modify the Boot.ini file to achieve the purpose, as shown in Figure 2. Restart your computer to see if your desires are realized!

Figure 2 starting menu after modification

From the above, BOOT. INI is a very important system file, without it, the system will not be able to boot, so we usually need to make a necessary backup, but also to edit its methods. In particular, when installing multiple systems, the file is often corrupted if it is not in the order of installation from low to high (Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003). If we had the means to revise and edit it, there would be no way to do it.