Your Windows XP workstation is not booting, and some of the error messages appear to be related to a missing or corrupted boot.ini file. What’s the best way to rebuild the boot.ini file?
A) Boot the computer into the recovery console and run bootcfg
B) Boot the computer into the recovery console and copy a new version of NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM
C) Boot the computer into the recovery console and run fixboot c:
D) Boot the computer with the original installation media and reinstall Windows XP
The answer: A) Boot the computer into the recovery console and run bootcfg
The bootcfg program can list, add, rebuild and maintain the boot.ini file.
The incorrect answers:
B) Boot the computer into the recovery console and copy a new version of NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM
If these files are missing, the recovery console can be used to help copy the files from another source.
C) Boot the computer into the recovery console and run fixboot c:
The fixboot utility can rebuild the computer’s boot sector, and this may indirectly repair the boot.ini file. In this question, we want to modify the boot.ini file without touching the boot sector, so the best answer is still to run bootcfg.
D) Boot the computer with the original installation media and reinstall Windows XP
Reinstalling Windows will probably resolve the boot.ini file problem, but bootcfg should be your first (and easiest) option.
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Want to know more? Watch “Dealing with Errors.” Errors with the boot sector or operating system boot files create massive problems for CompTIA A+ certified professionals. In this video, we’ll discuss boot sector errors (invalid partition tables, operating system not found), operating system boot file problems (NTLDR is missing), and application startup problems. |
I always fix this error running the XP disk and choosing Recovery Console and doing a Fix Boot command.
Might want to edit this question some
James –
I’ve made a clarification to the answers, thanks for the comment!