I have a Windows XP computer. It stopped booting up. I get the corrupt boot.ini message. If I try using the bootcfg /rebuild in the recovery console, it doesn't even find my windows installation and says it could be a corrupt file system. The Dir command in C:\ doesn't show boot.ini at all! Running CHKDSK results in: CHKDSK found on or more errors on the volume. Other than that, I am stuck. The REPAIR option (when booting with Windows CD in the drive) does not show up. Any help or suggestions are appreciated!

possibly you want to do a repair install: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/... Make sure you have the proper disc, if it is xp home, you need an xp home install disc and vice versa Some HELP in posting on Computing.net plus free progs and instructions Cheers

Hey thanks for the fast reply! But the REPAIR option is not visible!!! I go to the right place, hit F8 at the disclosure, and all I can choose is to delete the partition, etc., no 'R' option

first how many partitions is it showing up with? second, have you tried each and every one of the OS partitions. 3rdly what does it say after it fails to boot into Windows? since if it says something dealing with a missing dll, then someone might have edited the boot.ini file, which is pretty easy to fix.

OK here's more information: When you turn the power button on, I get the Mother board's logo, then I get: Invalid BOOT.INI file Booting from C:\Windows (screen goes black for 10 seconds) Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \windows\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the original Setup CD-ROM. Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair. I restart, then boot from Windows CD... (I will try a REPAIR for the next steps) To set up Windows CP now, press ENTER. *ENTER* Licensing Agreement *F8=I agree* -To set up Windows XP on the selected item, press ENTER -To created a partition in the unpartitioned space, press C. -To delete the selected partition, press D. It then shows 1 partition: C: Partition1 [NTFS] 230465 MB Unpartitioned space 8MB I then restart my computer and will try the Recovery Console after booting from Windows XP CD: To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R. *'R'* Microsoft Recovery Console. The Recovery Console Provides.....etc... Type EXIT to quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer. 1: C:\WINDOWS Which Windows installatino would you like to log onto? *1: ENTER (no password)* C:\WINDOWS And the rest I think I already posted.. bootcfg /rebuild doesn't work as it says the file system could be corrupted. Chkdsk says there was 1 or more errors but no details..

Looks like you DIDN'T use the instructions on a repair install Some HELP in posting on Computing.net plus free progs and instructions Cheers

Would you care to elaborate on how I didn't do the REPAIR process correctly? It didn't show up as an option... ?