Hello, I realize I am a new member , and with hopeful resolution of this problem , plan to be a much more active member ,, but i have been tryin to fix this for a long time and any help would be greatly appriciated. When I start Laptop It gives me error [B]invalid boot.ini[/B] . When i boot from cd to go to recovery console i get the responses from these commands: map : ? 28608mb \device\harddisk0\partiton1 D: \device\cdrom0 bootcfg /add -- failed to succesfully scan for windows installations use chkdsk to scan for errors bootcfg /list -- there are no boot entries to display boot/rebuild--same as bootcfg/add chkdsk /r /f --parameter not valid fixboot --target partition is the file system on the startup partition is unkown. fixboot cannot open the partition. When i start safe mode or normal i either get bsod or windows loading bar then bsod I have a Dell Inspiron 1000 Bios : A08 Cpu : 2200 mhz HDD: 30G Toshiba MK3021gas-(PM) Sys Mem : 256mb@266MHZ I have tried everything and since inspiron 1000 has no floppy i dont know what else to do. I hope it has something to do with drive letter not being recognized. Anyhelp is greatly appriciated.

You can try the Emergency Boot CD - Windows XP Emergency Boot CD (XP SP2 Pro and XP SP2 Home) from http://www.answersthatwork.com/ Do you have any other method of accessing your system partition (Knoppix etc..)?

HOW CAN I GET KNOPPIX TO BOOT FROM USB IF I CANT GET PAST BOOT SCREEN OR RECOVERY CONSOLE?

Please turn off your Capslock, your shouting is deafening. The Knoppix I have used is a bootable cd, does not require an installed operating system. You did mention being able to boot from a cd "When i boot from cd to go to recovery console i get the responses from these commands: Here's a description which you could have found by simply entering Knoppix as a Google search. KNOPPIX is a bootable Live system on CD or DVD, consisting of a representative collection of GNU/Linux software, automatic hardware detection, and support for many graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI and USB devices and other peripherals. KNOPPIX can be used as a productive Linux system for the desktop, educational CD, rescue system, or adapted and used as a platform for commercial software product demos. It is not necessary to install anything on a hard disk. Due to on-the-fly decompression, the CD can have up to 2 GB of executable software installed on it (over 8GB on the DVD "Maxi" edition). There are other downloadable bootable rescue disks available which might be of assistance in recreating your boot.ini and other files. The emergency boot cd to which I posted a link has all the necessary files to boot into the Windows system installed on your hard drive in C:\Windows\ if it is accessible, it is also a bootable cd. Post back if you wish to continue with your query, another member may respond with help. V.

A good boot disk to have is ubcd4win http://www.ubcd4win.com/ The problem is, you need to create it from a working system. ERD commander http://www.fullandfree.info/softwar... The caps you used, seem to me that you were annoyed. People who reply here are trying to help. So if you expect help in the future bear this in mind. UK MP's are thieving scumbags. EU members are worse.

i apologize about the caps. i tried bart pe last night and got to confused on how to set it up. i only have a usb and no floopy. I guess at this point since it cant find any os's installed and wont recognize the drive letter for the hdd in recovery and wont reinstall windows all i am left with is to find a cd i can burn at aunts that will fix it i guess..? thanks alot for your help guys it means alot i have been trying to fix this for about a week

ubcd4win is based on BartPE, http://www.ubcd4win.com/contents.htm But as I said, you need to create it on a working system. System rescue cd, can be installed on to usb. Hirens boot cd has various tools http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd download from http://maxt.dk/archives/2009/06/11/... UK MP's are thieving scumbags. EU members are worse.