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Windows XP Boot Up Process: The Roles of MBR, BOOT.INI, NTLDR, and NTOSKRNL.EXE



1. Below is a list of boot disk creators created by BootDisk.com for various versions of windows. Click on the link that corresponds to the operating system installed on the computer that will be booted by the boot disk.


2. Save the selected boot disk to your desktop when your browser prompts you where to save it to. When the file has completed downloading you will see an icon similar to the one below with a name that corresponds to the operating system you chose for the boot disk.




Windows XP Boot Up Process



Windows Safe Mode is a way of booting up your Windows operating system in order to run administrative and diagnostic tasks on your installation. When you boot into Safe Mode the operating system only loads the bare minimum of software that is required for the operating system to work. This mode of operating is designed to let you troubleshoot and run diagnostics on your computer. Windows Safe Mode ...


When it comes to diagnosing and fixing problems in Windows, a very useful feature is a Windows mode called Safe Mode with Networking. Safe Mode with Networking is a special mode that you can boot Windows into that loads a very minimal set of drivers, Windows services, and does not load any applications that are set to autostart. As this mode does support networking, this means that you can ...


The Recovery Console is a special boot up method that can be used to help fix problems that are preventing your Windows installation from properly booting up into Windows. This method allows you to access the files, format drives, disable and enable services, and other tasks from a console prompt while the operating system is not loaded. It is suggested that the Recovery Console is to only be used ...


Each trace contains a list of the files and directories accessed when a given application starts (or during boot) and this information is used to give the prefetcher a chance to prefetch all the data required in one go, so that the loading of the application can be optimized.


In addition, any files referenced by these boot applications (DLLs, SYS files, etc) are also tracked in C:\Windows\PreFetch\Layout.ini. Every few days, when the system is idle, defrag.exe is called with a command-line parameter that causes all these referenced files to be moved to a contiguous area of the disk. This means that the prefetching of these files is much more efficient and further improves the boot time. You can manually invoke defrag to optimize boot files by running the following command (Windows 7 only, the parameters are different on Windows Vista):


There are some semi-undocumented registry keys that control the prefetch and superfetch operations, but in all but the most exeptional cases they should not be touched. They are only documented on the Windows 7 embedded sites for Disabling Superfetch and Disabling Prefetch. The default value for boot these keys is 3 which enables both boot and appliction prefetching.


You can see the massive improvement that occurs in the first few boots and then some smaller but significant gains in the later boots and the final defrag optimization. This example used a vanilla machine with very few drivers installed and no additional applications. The more drivers and software installed the more files must be accessed during boot which means these optimizations are likely to have an even more pronounced effect.


You can bypass all the programs in your Startupfolder on an as-needed basis. To stop XP from loading any programs inthe Startup folder, hold down the Shift keyduring boot-up. No programs in the Startupfolder will run, but the items will still remain there, so that theywill start up as they would normally the next time you boot.


Like with all other solutions that allow you to reset the Windows password without having an account on the corresponding computer, you have to boot from a second operating system and access the Windows installation while it is offline.


You can do this with a bootable Windows PE USB stick or by using Windows RE. You can start Windows RE by booting the Windows Vista or Windows 7 setup DVD and then selecting "Repair" instead of "Install Windows."


By the way, you can't use the Windows XP boot CD for this purpose because its Recovery Console will ask for a password for the offline installation. However, you can use a Vista or Windows 7 DVD to reset a forgotten Windows administrator password on Windows XP.


I recommend that you replace sethc.exe with the copy you stored in the root folder of your system drive in step 3. For this, you have to boot up again with Windows PE or RE because you can't replace system files while the Windows installation is online. Then you have to enter this command:


The Windows boot process can suffer from boot sector corruption, boot loader problems, and drive identification problems within boot.ini or the Boot Configuration Database (BCD). For most problems, the Emergency Repair Process or the Windows Recovery Environment (RE) are reasonable troubleshooting and repair steps.


If you have multiple hard drives, flash drives, or USB devices connected to your computer, they may have been placed higher in the boot order than your normal boot drive. If that is the case, you may see messages related to missing boot files. If this is the case, your solution to the issue is to enter the BIOS/UEFI configuration on your computer and select the correct device to be used as the boot device. The solution may be simpler with removable devices, because the device can simply be removed.


From Windows Vista forward, Microsoft replaced NTLDR with bootmgr.exe and winload.exe. Instead of recording the \Windows directory location in boot.ini, post-XP systems read startup information directly from the boot configuration database (BCD); this data can be read and modified by using the bootcfg utility.


Please re-install a copy of the above file.This message is misleading because the problem is really with the boot.ini file. The reason for the message is that the boot loader (ntldr) has gone to the default location, and ntoskrnl.exe or hal.dll files were not there. If the boot.ini file is replaced and the boot path is correct for your installation, the boot process will continue as normal.


data.Enter=Continue ESC=ExitTo resolve this type of error, look at using the Startup Repair process or the repair Command Prompt, which includes tools like bootrec.exe /RebuildBCD, or bcdedit.exe. bcdedit.exe will allow you to manually rebuild the BCD.


Enter=Continue ESC=ExitTo resolve this type of error, look at using the Vista Startup Repair process or the repair Command Prompt, which includes tools like bootrec.exe /RebuildBCD, or bcdedit.exe. bcdedit.exe will allow you to manually rebuild the BCD.


Please re-install a copy of the above file.These messages may look familiar; they are the same messages that you receive if your boot.ini file is misconfigured. After checking the boot.ini file, if the ntoskrnl.exe or hal.dll files are actually missing, you have to do one of the following:


I've called my folder "Windows XP Mode," but the choice is yours. When you're ready, press OK, then OK again to start the extraction process. This can take a minute or two.


Select the file named VirtualXPVHD. Press F2 to rename. Insert a period between the "P" and the "V," and press Enter, now reading VirtualXP.VHD. The file should immediately change into a virtual hard disk and the icon to boot.


On the VirtualBox toolbar, press Settings. Head to System. Look at the Boot Order. Uncheck Floppy, and move it down the list. Promote Hard Disk to the top of the pile. Just like your host PC, the virtual machine has a specific boot order. You need the virtual hard disk at the top of the list so it boots first:


You will encounter warnings that you are attempting to install unsupported software and/or drivers. Select Continue Anyway. The installation process does take a little while, needing periodic input to move past the software warnings.


Notepad will open the file. The window will appear similar to Figure 3.35. You can now view the boot log that contains all loaded and not-loaded drivers. Record the date that appears on the first line of the file in Table 3.56.


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I've experienced my ugly share of Windows boot problems over the years: I've seen my laptop working perfectly fine at home, only for it to inexplicably quit on me when I try to start it up on an airplane a mere two hours later. That's why, wherever I travel, I'm prepared for a total crash of my machine -- and you should be too.


If Windows detects boot problems, it usually automatically runs the Windows Recovery Environment (or WinRE -- we'll discuss this in more detail below) and presents you with options to restore an image or perform various repair commands. However, if your hard disk is really screwed up for whatever reason, it might even affect the hidden recovery partition that contains WinRE. If you're using Windows 7 or Vista, in such situations you can use the Windows DVD, or the recovery CD that Windows backup creates right after it's finished creating your image. You can burn such a recovery disc any time by going to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Backup and Restore -> Create a system repair disc. You can also put WinRE on a bootable thumb drive.


You can invoke a "Last Known Good" mode you by hitting F8 repeatedly just before the Windows boot screen appears -- it works more often than you might think, as it restores all changes made to your hardware profile and registry made during your last session (or successful boot). That's why it's smart to use this mode before you run Safe Mode. If that's not working, Windows Startup Repair and Safe Mode are your anchors. 2ff7e9595c


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