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Where is boot.ini?

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Arkaine23

Captain Random Senior Evil
Joined
Nov 8, 2001
Where is boot.ini? Custom win2k boot logos

Such a dumb question...

I'm trying to use custom bootscreens in win2k. I've done everything I need to do except edit the boot.ini file. I can't find it. Where is it typically? I'm dual 98se/2kpro with 98 on C: and 2k on D: I've tried to find boot.ini from within win2k, and I've made explorer "show hidden files". But I still can't find it. Which partition would it be on? Where?????
 
Last edited:
found it!

I found the info I needed to locate and edit the boot.ini file here:
http://support.microsoft.com/view/tn.asp?kb=311578

A guide for using custom bootscreens and a gallery of 100's of sample boot logos can be found at: www.littlewhitedog.com (Its in the windows tweaks sticky. Thanks Emericana!)

Now instead of the plain old white windows 2000 logo boot screen, Ive got a black windows 2003 elite server boot screen. I really need to figure out how to attach pics... I'll work on doing just that when I get home from work.
 
boot.ini is on your primary drive (don't remember the name). If you C: partition is your bootable partition, then do a search on this partition, and you'll find it.
 
Custom screens

Yeah, I found it no prob once I started looking in the right partition. Now have several custom screens setup. Can boot into: Win2k elite edition (win2k), win XP (win2k), win3k anime edition (win2k), win2k Matrix edition (win2k), win2003 elite server (win2k), win xp professional (win 2k), NT 5 dead edition (win 2k), and Win 98se (win98se).
 
Hey Arkaine23, I've been trying to customize my boot screen for who knows how long. I went to littlewhitedog for the info and I still manage to get it wrong, could you help? everytime I do the changes and restart...BAM...same old boot screen. P*sses me off, can't get it.Thnx
 
boot logos

I just followed littlewhitedog's guide.

Edited the logos 1st with Irfanview- 16 colors, 640x480, save as bmp.

Made several copies of NTOSKRNL.exe and named them kernel01.exe, kernel02.exe, etc.

Used Resource Hacker to replace the boot logo with the custom logos in the kernel01, kernel02, etc.

Edited boot.ini by copying/pasting and added "kernel=kernel01" or 02, or 03, etc. Also make sure to give yourself a few seconds on the time-out line so you can select which logo to boot with. I think the default is 30 seconds anyway, but check it to be sure. That might be your problem now that I think about it... If you have only win2k, then maybe it times-out instantly, ie its set to 0 seconds. I'm dual-booted, so it gives me 30 seconds to choose my OS or edited win2k kernels.

Look at the guide again and follow it to the letter, see if it works for ya. After I figured out Irfanview and Resource hacker and found the boot.ini file, it was pretty easy.
 
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