ok, when i boot up win2k it says Invalid Boot.ini booting c:\winnt\. But then windows 2000 starts normally... i looked on the c drive and searched the entire disk and there is no boot.ini file anywhere... so how can the system load without a boot.ini file and how can i create one? Also when you go into system in control panel and goto advanced and click startup and recovery it displays the error: "The c:\boot.ini file cannot be opened operating system and timeout settings cannot be changed". Any ideas? Thanks in advance

The boot.ini file is super hidden and should be left that way. If you want to edit the file, you can go to start / run / notepad c:boot.ini . Also, you could go to this site and download msconfig. Check here

I'm wondering if booting with the install cdrom and using the fixboot command from the recovery console would work. Maybe someone else can verify this.

boot.ini is also read-only.

Via Explorer\tools\folder-options\view - enable the show hidden folders/files option.

Then in Explorer locate it and reset its attributes (via Properties) to allow you to 'read and write' (change and save) it; i.e. uncheck the read-only box). Remember to restore read-only/hidden status afterwards.

If you have only W2K installed then there's usually only two lines in the boot.ini. The fix boot option via a CD boot (or 4 floppies) and choosing Repair may/should allow it to correct any errors...

Thanks, i did try the run c:\boot.ini and try to get at it from explorer and it isnt there... but i'll give the repair option off the cd and the fixboot command a try... i was gona try that but i cant find my cd's :S lol.