System will not boot up - eMachines W3506 PC Desktop

You may have overwritten your boot.ini file.

• Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click System.
• On the Advanced tab, under Startup and Recovery, click Settings.
• Under System startup, in the Default operating system list, click the operating system that you want to start when you turn on or restart your computer.
• Select the Display list of operating systems for check box, and then type the number of seconds for which you want the list displayed before the default operating system starts automatically.
  
  To manually edit the boot options file, click Edit. Microsoft strongly recommends that you do not modify the boot options file (Boot.ini), because doing so may render your computer unusable.

If both OS's are the same, you should be able to copy and paste the line for XP and simply change the drive letter to the location of the second OS.

Boot sequence problem? You set the boot sequence permanently in the Bios or System Setup. Normally when you boot the system the screen will tell you what key to hit to get into the Bios or Systems Setup.

You can set the boot sequence temporarily (just for the current boot cycle) by watching the screen when you boot and it will tell you which key to hit to change the boot sequence or boot order.

change cd or cd drive
set the currect boot order
first boot -cd rom

If you are interested in doing it more easily and quickly. I think you can try this computer boot up suite. When your computer crashes, cannot enter Windows, or you want to work under boot environment, this is your NO. 1 choice.

To format your computer, you must have the (OS) Operating system CD. You have to move your important file to another location because formating your system will wipe out all the files you have on that drive. Put the OS CD on your CD-ROM and restart your your system. When system boots it will boot to the CD-ROM if the boot order is set that way. Otherwise you need to set the first boot order to the CD-ROM from BIOS. When the system boots to the CD-ROM you will be asked to press any key to boot from the CD-ROM, do just that and the system will boot from the CD-ROM. Follow the on screen instructruction afterward.

I assume you're wanting to automatically boot a different hard-drive? If so, it's a real simple fix. I'll take you through the steps using Windows XP Professional. In the example below we will tell the system to automatically boot Windows 7 if the user does not make a choice in 30 seconds.

1. Open My Computer.
2. Open your C:\ drive.
3. At the top, select Tools -> Folder Options (Picture)
4. Select "Show Hidden Files and Folders," Uncheck "Hide Extensions for known File Types," Uncheck "Hide Protected Operating System Files." (Picture)
5. Locate "boot.ini." (Picture)
6. Right-Click boot.ini and go to "Properties." (Picture)
7. Uncheck "Read-only" and press OK. (Picture)
8. Open boot.ini
9. Find the line corresponding with the system you want to boot automatically every time your system starts. (Picture)
10. Place the system's path into the "Default" slot. (Picture)

NOTE: Only place the system's path into the default slot, not the boot options and description!

11. Save the file and exit boot.ini.
12. Once again, right-click boot.ini and go to Properties. (Picture)
13. Check "Read-only" and press OK. (Picture)
14. Restart your system to ensure the changes were made correctly and that your system starts the correct operating system.

CAUTION: Altering the lines below "[operating systems]" can change the way you system starts and might prevent your system from starting! DO NOT ALTER ANY ENTRIES BELOW "[operating systems]" UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING! Altering the "Default" slot will not harm your system as long as you enter a system path that is described in the "[operating system]" sector.


Altering boot.ini the way we just did tells the system to automatically start Windows 7 if the user does not make a choice in 30 seconds. Additionally, if you want the timer to run for say 1-3 seconds, you can alter the "timeout" value to read something similar to: timeout=2
That way when the system will automatically boot the "default" system in 2 seconds if the user doesn't make a choice. NOTE: Don't forget, you can't alter boot.ini unless "Read-only" is unchecked. Also, don't forget to check it again once you're finished editing boot.ini.

Let me know if this solved your problem, or if you were wondering how to do something else.

Hi,
That's not a virus. Boot.ini is a default file needed for Windows OS to boot.
Fortunately, you can recreate the boot.ini files

This is a sample of the above Boot.ini file with a previous installation of Windows 2000 on a separate partition. [boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect

Simple way to add operating system on a separate partition:
At the command prompt, type: bootcfg /copy /d Operating System Description /ID# Where Operating System Description is a text description (e.g. Windows XP Home Edition), and where # specifies the boot entry ID in the operating systems section of the BOOT.INI file from which the copy has to be made.

Please rate this if you found this answer helpful. :)

i have a problem when my external drive is in the usb and i start my laptop it says bootmgr is missing how can i sort this problem as i have to take it out of the usb plug to get my laptop working the i plug the external drive back in and it works,