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Jan 14th, 2005
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Editing boot.ini

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I have Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 and Windows 98 Second Edition on my computer. When I start my computer up, I am asked if I want to start either "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition", or "Microsoft Windows" (Windows 98). It would make more sense to me to have it say "Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition" instead of just "Microsoft Windows" for the second choice, so I would like to change it. I looked at boot.ini and am very afraid of doing the wrong thing. I assume that if I messed up, my computer wouldn't start anymore, and I'd have to reformat, correct?

Here's the file in its current state:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
C:\ = "Microsoft Windows"

If I changed that to this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
C:\ = "Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition"

...would my computer still start up? Or would have have to reformat and start all over again?
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Junior Poster
Kamex is offline Offline
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since May 2004
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Jan 14th, 2005
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Re: Editing boot.ini

Yes, you can modify what is within the quote marks.

Why you would want the extremely long descriptor is beyond me tho...

Why not just "Win98 OSR2" or even "98"?

--HV
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HawkeVIPER is offline Offline
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Jan 17th, 2005
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Re: Editing boot.ini

I like it better to have names as specific as possible. It ends up being better looking that way. True, shorter names take up less space, but the words "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" don't even reach the halfway point on the screen, so space is not an issue. But anyway, thank you very much for your help. I was still pretty nervous, but was able to edit the file and fix the goofy discription.

Just curious, but what would happen were I to totally screw up the file so that the computer could not possibly use it? Would the computer skip the file and just boot to 98 (which I assume is what happens if boot.ini is not present), or would it not start at all and choke on the file, giving me a funny error message and requiring me to reformat?

Edit: Oh, and is there a way I could add a third option, "Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition in MS-DOS mode"?
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Kamex is offline Offline
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Jan 17th, 2005
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Re: Editing boot.ini

That should work just fine. Are you running FAT32? If so, you can always go in with a DOS bootdisk and a text editor to fix the boot.ini file if you have somehow messed it up.
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alc6379 is offline Offline
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Jan 17th, 2005
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Re: Editing boot.ini

Quote originally posted by Kamex ...
I like it better to have names as specific as possible. It ends up being better looking that way. True, shorter names take up less space, but the words "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" don't even reach the halfway point on the screen, so space is not an issue. But anyway, thank you very much for your help. I was still pretty nervous, but was able to edit the file and fix the goofy discription.

Just curious, but what would happen were I to totally screw up the file so that the computer could not possibly use it? Would the computer skip the file and just boot to 98 (which I assume is what happens if boot.ini is not present), or would it not start at all and choke on the file, giving me a funny error message and requiring me to reformat?

Edit: Oh, and is there a way I could add a third option, "Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition in MS-DOS mode"?

If you corrupt the boot.ini file, your computer will stop on boot... literally just sit there staring at you... make sure you backup your boot.ini file and have a boot disk that will allow you to access your ntfs partition in the event of emergency -- ultimate boot cd might be what you're after - http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/

Yes, you can add a third option - refer to this m$ knowledge base: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=289022
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HawkeVIPER is offline Offline
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Jan 22nd, 2005
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Re: Editing boot.ini

Yes, but what's the command for starting 98 in MS-dos mode using boot.ini? I want to be able to pick weither to start 98 in MS-dos or graphical mode with different boot options.
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Junior Poster
Kamex is offline Offline
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since May 2004

This thread is more than three months old

No one has posted to this discussion for at least three months. Please let old threads die and do not reply to them unless you feel you have something new and valuable to contribute that absolutely must be added to make the discussion complete. Otherwise, please start a new thread in this forum instead.
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