I restored my boot.ini file by opening windows pss folder and copying boot.ini to drive C. I renamed file and rebooted and everything went well except the boot.ini file disappeared. I retraced my steps and tried again. I rebooted with no problems except the boot.ini file disappears, vanishes. Temporarily I redo this proceedure each time I use my computer. I am using xp media center with service pack 3. Please advise.

goto c:

type "dir /ah"

dir /a:h for hidden files .
if you want to create boot.ini file then here is the format

[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="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

type this and save as boot.ini and copy it into c: drive and hide it.

when you reboot boot.ini is automatically hide by the window system you can unhide those file using Attrib DOS Command.

goto c:

type "dir /ah"

DID NOT WORK.

when you reboot boot.ini is automatically hide by the window system you can unhide those file using Attrib DOS Command.

boot.ini is erased everytime I reboot. I receive "invalid" message. When I copy boot.ini from my media storage, it works, but only once because on reboot it is erased!

don't copy the boot.ini if it is always erase just use windows xp professional because in vista no boot.ini anymore maybe your xp media center have different settings on booting the system or it follows vista style i am not sure just anaylyze your system.

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