Boot.ini file is an initialization file, but editing it for some people has been a bad experience. In this post i will let you know the codes and their meaning and also how to edit them easily. By default this is hidden in Xp, but in case of win 98, it can be searched.
To access the file in Xp :-

• Right click on My Computer and select Properties.
• Go to the Advanced tab and click Settings in Startup and Recovery section.
• Click Edit and you will see the Boot.ini file opened in a notepad.


Now File says something like this

[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” /fastdetect

The First line [Boot loader] just states the Booting Process.
timeout=30 is the time that will be provided to you to select from the list of OS’s installed. This works only in case you have multiple OS’s installed. It can be reduced easily, but make sure you give enough time to react upon it. 10 Seconds is the appropriate time.
The third line says multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Professional” /fastdetect. multi(0) tells us the IDE on which the drive is attached to. Usually its Primary only. disk(0) shows the number of Hard disks mounted. rdisk(0) tells us from which disk it is booting. In case of SCSI drives, it might not show up. partition(1) tell that on which Logical partition the OS is installed on.
After that it says “Microsoft Windows XP Professional” that is the name that shows up on the OS selection page. You can put your own name there as well.
This was the editable part of Boot.ini file.
Now in case if you delete the file accidentally then you need not worry, you don’t need to create the file again. Xp will create a file of its own, and your system is safe.
But in case if someone edits it and puts in the wrong information, then it you system will find the file but not the correct path. So that might harm your Computer.