mike Posted March 30, 2004 Posted March 30, 2004 Hey, guys and gals, any input on this: Did a restart in xp and got " invalid boot.ini" "booting from C:\windows" then I get no icons except the recycle bin. many of the start menu items say "empty" when I hold the mouse over them. Others are intact. However, MANY programs won't run at all unless I go get the .exe from their folders. AVG came up zip,zero, nadda. Spybot came up with: common extension hijack: default registry handler. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\regfile\shell\open\command\=regedit.exe "%1" I chose not to have spybot fix it because that's exactly what that key says on my wifes xp. hmmmmm anyone run into this before. I have a sneaky feeling I will have to re-install all those programs???? Quote
Madmanmcp Posted March 30, 2004 Posted March 30, 2004 Hi mike, didn't we just go thru a boot.ini problem for you? Sounds like a continuation of the previous problem. The boot.ini is the starting point for loading an operating system, it directs the computer to the OS and the partition or drive where its located. If this is corrupt you need to start with that error first. You need to replace or fix the boot.ini before worrying about what spybot finds. Quote
mike Posted March 30, 2004 Author Posted March 30, 2004 No. that was a problem with getting online. I agree about starting with the boot.ini but doesn't most of the items in the boot.ini come from installations? a search for the boot.ini file only comes up with boot.ini.backup created january 03 and modified january 04. so I assume I need to rebuild a boot.ini but doesn't that mean alot of re-installs? under accessories the system tools are now "empty", so I probably need to even re-install xp.??? Do you think that should be a clean install or not necessary? thanks in advance Quote
Madmanmcp Posted March 30, 2004 Posted March 30, 2004 mike, no, the installation information you are talking about goes into the registry. The boot.ini is created when XP is first installed and it just contains information on what OS to boot and where it is located. If you have a backup of the boot.ini I would try that first, it may be the quick fix you need. Quote
TCH-Dick Posted March 30, 2004 Posted March 30, 2004 Just save the attached file to "C:\" boot.ini Quote
mike Posted March 31, 2004 Author Posted March 31, 2004 Thanks guys. I copied the boot.ini from my wifes xp. I guess it's ok again, but I have no address book, no icons, and alot of the start menu progs have gone to include the system tools. Is it alright to run the xp install disk again? Rock Sign Quote
Madmanmcp Posted March 31, 2004 Posted March 31, 2004 mike, see if the "Show Desktop Icons" options is turned off. Right-click the desktop. Point to Arrange Icons By. Click Show Desktop Icons Quote
Madmanmcp Posted March 31, 2004 Posted March 31, 2004 Do you possibly have multiple accounts to log in under? If you logged into a new account the icons and email will be missing because this new account has not been setup with any of this information yet. Cliak on Start and then LOG OFF and then see if there are multiple accounts to log on with, select the original account and see if everything comes back. Quote
mike Posted March 31, 2004 Author Posted March 31, 2004 Yep the "show desktop icons" is still checked Quote
mike Posted March 31, 2004 Author Posted March 31, 2004 I checked and it's only my account, Madman. It did change the little picture back to the original; so I went to get the picture I had and low and behold ALL of the photo folders are empty. I have a very lot of photo folders and subfolders, and they are all empty. I checked the view and they are set to thumbnails. So there is apparantly a lot more stuff missing than I thought. Mad!!! Quote
Madmanmcp Posted March 31, 2004 Posted March 31, 2004 Ok, so alls you did was copy the boot.ini from the wife's PC...lets see if we can rebuild your boot.ini to fix things. See if the instructions here help. http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=291980 Quote
mike Posted April 3, 2004 Author Posted April 3, 2004 That looks like the article I need alright, but I looked all over my xp home disk and can't find any recovery console to run the bootcfg. I tried running it from the run command line, but it isn't there. Does anyone know where on the xp home disk I am missing this recovery console? thanks Quote
Madmanmcp Posted April 3, 2004 Posted April 3, 2004 To install the Recovery Console as a startup option With Windows running, insert the Setup CD into your CD-ROM drive. CLick Start and select Run. Type the following where D: is the CD-ROM drive letter: D:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons Follow the instructions on the screen. Notes To run the Recovery Console, restart your computer and select the Recovery Console option from the list of available operating systems. You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing this procedure. To see the commands available on the Recovery Console, type help at the at the console prompt. If your computer will not start, you can run the Recovery Console from the Setup CD. See Related Topics for information on running the Recovery Console when your computer will not start. Quote
mike Posted April 3, 2004 Author Posted April 3, 2004 thanks, madman, I surely appeciate it and will give her a run. Rock Sign Rock Sign Quote
mike Posted April 4, 2004 Author Posted April 4, 2004 Morning! I got the recovery console installed, but it asks for admin password and won't take it. I even went in and changed the password, which works to get into windows but won't take it ( invalid ) when logging into recovery console. What's up with that? thanks. Quote
Madmanmcp Posted April 4, 2004 Posted April 4, 2004 http://www.theeldergeek.com/recovery_console.htm scroll down to the middle of the page and read the section on Recovery Console Password. Quote
mike Posted April 5, 2004 Author Posted April 5, 2004 Ok. I did all that. Ran the console. chose log on option c:\windows ( the only option ) typed bootcfg /rebuild identifier - home1 load options - /fastdetect rebooted and chose home1 I really didn't see any change. It worked. But same as it did when I simply copied the wife's boot.ini Am I missing something or did I mistakenly think the system would "refind" all the stuff in the "now empty" folders and bring back all the desktop icons? Am I correct in assuming the only way to bring back progs to the desktop and to the start menu is to remove and re-install? thanks for all your help. Rock Sign Quote
Madmanmcp Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 Well I have no other ideas for you. If no one else does then reinstall is your last choice. Quote
ThumpAZ Posted April 6, 2004 Posted April 6, 2004 This sounds somewhat familiar to me. If memory serves me (preferably a turkey n cheese on whole grain)... The boot.ini file problem, mixed with the loss of icons and files has to do with the registry becoming corrupted and pointing to a Guest-level account, even though all of the consoles and such say that you are on an admin account. I do not recall how to recover from this, but I do think it was a reinstall... sorry. You could try creating a new Admin-level account and logging on with that, then resetting permissions/ownership on all folders to that account and see what you can see with that. Quote
mike Posted April 6, 2004 Author Posted April 6, 2004 Well, it's the first time I have come upon this problem also; but I think you guys are right about the reinstall. Do you recommend "clean". Thanks for all the help I really appreciate it. I also learned some good stuff as well in the process so all is not in vain. Rock Sign Rock Sign Rock Sign Quote
Madmanmcp Posted April 6, 2004 Posted April 6, 2004 Yes, a "clean" install. If you do a reinstall over top of your current configuration you may not correct the problem. Quote
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