Required files

On Intel based machines:

• NTLDR – The boot loader
• BOOT.INI – Contains the boot menu with selections the user can boot from.
• BOOTSECT.DOS – A boot sector file for DOS for booting DOS or Windows 3.1 or 95.
• NTDETECT.COM – Detects the hardware for the NTLDR program.
• NTOSKRNL.EXE – The NT kernel.
• NTBOOTDD.SYS – Used for booting SCSI devices when no SCSI BIOS is available.

On RISC based machines:

• OSLOADER.EXE – The RISC boot loader
• NTOSKRNL.EXE – The kernel
• NTBOOTDD.SYS – Used for booting SCSI devices when no SCSI BIOS is available.

BOOT.INI

BOOT.INI is stored in the root directory of the computers primary boot partition and contains the menu of operating systems that may be booted. Has two sections:

1. [Boot Loader]
   • Timeout – The number of seconds the bootloader waits for the user to select an operating system other than the default.
   • Default – The path of the default operating system that is booted if the user makes no selection

2. [Operating Systems] – Lists the operating systems that may be booted and their paths using the Advanced RISC Computer (ARC) naming convention which is:
   • scsi(n) or multi(n) – The option scsi(n) is used for SCSI adapters that do not include BIOS support or have it enabled on their adapter. The multi(n) term is used for all other types of hard drives. The value of n indicates the number of the hardware adapter to use.
   • disk(n) – The value of n is 0 if the multi option is used, above, but for SCSI, the value indicates the SCSI bus number.
   • rdisk(n) – The SCSI LUN number. If scsi is used above, this value will be 0, “rdisk(0)”. Otherwise this value is 0 for primary or 1for secondary.
   • partition(n) – The partition with the system files. This starts with 1 for the first partition. It does not use 0 to indicate the first partition.
   • \path – The directory with the operating system files with the default being \Winnt.

Options are:

2. /FASTDETECT=[COMx | COMy] – This was the /NOSERIALMICE option in Windows NT. Useful if hooking up a UPS to the serial port, so Windows 2000 will not probe the port. Without com ports specified, makes the detection of a mouse on serial ports be skipped which is the default setting for Windows 2000.
3. ?/BASEVIDEO – Standard VGA mode is used to load which is needed if the video card drivers are incorrect.
4. ?/CRASHDEBUG – Enables automatic recovery and restart. Can be set from the control panel. Sends debut output to COM1, not a file.
5. /SOS – Displays names of device drivers as they are loaded.
6. ?/NODEBUG – Debugging information is not monitored.
7. /MAXMEM:n – Limits the amount of RAM to be used by NT or 2000.
8. ?/SCSIORDINAL:n – Selects the SCSI controller to be used to boot when there are more than one controller.
9. /NOGUIBOOT – A Windows 2000 switch causes booting without display of the boot status screen.

To modify this file, you must change its properties so it is not system and read only. Then it may be edited and the properties must be restored when complete.                                                                                                                      

An example BOOT.INI file:

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT40
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT40=”Windows NT Workstation Version 4.00″
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT40=”Windows NT Workstation Version 4.00 [VGA mode]” /basevideo /sos
C:\=”Windows 95″

Boot Option configuration

The system applet in the control panel may be used to select the default operating system to boot and modify the boot.ini timeout value. The Startup/Shutdown tab supports this function. However it will not allow renaming of the bootable systems. Boot options are not configurable from the registry since it is not loaded at the time the boot selection is made. Most boot option changes are done by editing the boot.ini file directly.