Hi all, When I try and boot a windows 9 machine that I have I get teh message System.ini file missing then the machine switches off... Is there anyway of getting around this wothout a complete System install again??? would be most gratefull. Cheers

Hi, is the message System.ini is missing? or a file system.ini refers to is missing? if it is System.ini missing, all is not lost. you should have several files in the c:\windows folder named System.??? you are looking for one that is about 3Kb to 5Kb in size. find the name and rename it to System.ini. or maybe simpler, start in DOS Mode and run a Scanreg /restore which will restore the registry, Win.ini and System.ini HTH

I believe the recommended fix is to boot to DOS and enter the following: scanreg /restore Select a date prior to the error. In Windows ME the message actually instructs you to do this, in 98 it just fails. The resolution for each is the same however.

To get a clean system.ini file without reinstalling: Boot into DOS using a bootdisk. From the a:\> prompt type: c: cd windows attrib -h system.cb copy system.cb system.ini Pull out the bootdisk and hit ctrl+alt+del to reboot. This proceedure will replace a missing or corrupted system.ini with a clean one. It will be missing all third party drivers so you will have to reload them (sound, video, scanners, etc...), but you should be able to get back up.