Setup and Startup

Boot.ini contains the list of available operating systems. Each entry includes the path to the boot partition for the operating system, the string to display in the boot loader screen, and optional parameters. Boot.ini supports starting multiple versions of Windows 2000, as well as starting other operating systems, such as Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, MS-DOS, and OS/2.

When you install Windows 2000, Setup places Boot.ini at the root of the system partition.

The following is a sample Boot.ini file:

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt= Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional /fastdetect

C:\=Windows 98

The information displayed on the boot loader screen is based on the contents of Boot.ini, such as in the following example:

Please select the operating system to start:

Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional

Microsoft Windows 98

Use and to move the highlight to your choice.

Please Enter to choose.

Seconds until highlighted choice will be started automatically: 29

For troubleshooting and advanced startup options for Windows 2000, press F8.

The first operating system listed is the default. In this configuration, if you do not select an operating system before the timer reaches 0, Windows 2000 Professional is started.