Repost from Dell Support Forums (Freeper Boot Error)

DellTalk ^ | Maedhros

[Maedhros]

My Latitude C800 (Win2k, 1.0 gHz, 256 MB) refuses to boot up.

It's able to make it through the first "Dell" screen, and I can access system setup, but immediately after this I get the following message:


Invalid BOOT.INI file
Booting from C:\winnt\
NTDETECT failed


I think these files are still intact, but have been inadvertantly moved around. I can't restore them until Windows loads, though.

Any thoughts or solutions?

EDIT: I looked arount in the Knowledge Base an found an article ( http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=1022061 ) that described how to make a boot disk. Unfortunately I can't access the required files (NTLDR, NTDETECT, and BOOT.INI) because I can't get into Windows (obviously). Are these files available anywhere on the internet?

[Maedhros]

I posted this earlier on the Dell forums and didn't get a response.

Any knowledgeable Freepers willing to help?

[damnlimey]

If you don't have a boot disc you need to beg borrow or steal one to replace the missing system files.
The worrying part is what caused it to happen,fatal system crash or a virus are both possibilities.
I also read that using an aftermarket partition tool can cause this error.
Of course if you have another 'pooter running 2k you could make a boot disc on it.
Good luck,hope someone else can be of more help.

[Maedhros]

Thanks.

[editto]

Also, if you can borrow a Windows 2000 installation CD from someone, you can boot off of this CD and run an installation repair, by pressing the 'R' key when prompted. Make sure you don't use a Windows Recovery CD; that's most likely what came with your computer, and will just reload your machine to its exact initial factory configuration (translation: goodbye data files & any new programs you've installed). You can do that if you want, but that's your last-ditch fix.

[Maedhros]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I was able to fix the problem. link