Windows operating system is the most used operating system in the world. It is simple to use, has rich graphical interface, has easily available drivers for most applications, and has got excellent software support. These are a few of the reasons among many more, owing to which it has got more than 80% of the market share. However, sometimes the Windows system fails to start while booting up. This could happen because of various reasons such as virus infections, human errors, power fluctuations, corruption in boot sector, etc. To counter such situations, you should consider taking appropriate measures. However, if you are not able to solve the issue then you should use a third-party Windows data recovery tools to recover Windows files.

Consider a scenario wherein you switch on your Windows XP computer system. It fails to boot and shows either of the following error messages:

“Invalid Boot.ini.”

“Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

WindowsSystem32Hal.dll”

Cause:

The root cause of the aforementioned messages is that the Boot.ini file is missing, corrupted, or contains incorrect entries.

The boot.ini file is the Microsoft initialization file in the Windows NT, 2000, and XP operating systems. It is placed at the root directory of the primary hard disk drive, that is, C drive in most cases. It is used to display the menu of operating systems in the system. Then, you can select the operating system that you want to use. In addition, it is also used to refer to the locations of the available operating systems.

Resolution:

To address the issue, you should perform the following steps:

Enter Windows XP Recovery Console.

Press any key to boot the system from the CD.

Allow Windows XP to begin the Setup Process.

Press R to enter Recovery Console.

Choose the Windows Installation.

Enter the administrator password.

Make necessary changes in the Windows XP Recovery Console.

Type bootcfg/rebuild and press Enter.

The bootcfg utility will scan the hard drives for Windows XP installations and the result is displayed.

You are prompted to Add installation to boot list?

Press Y and press Enter.

You are prompted to Enter Load Identifier.

Enter Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition and press Enter.

You are prompted to Enter OS Load options.

Type /Fastdetect and press Enter.

Type Exit and press Enter to start your PC.

The aforementioned steps should recover the boot.ini file and resolve the issue. However, if you still are not able to recover Windows system, you should use a third-party data recovery application.

Windows Data Recovery software that enables you to recover lost, deleted, formatted files. It is packaged with a Boot CD that enables you to recover data if you are not able to boot the system. It can perform recovery on various media such as hard drives, memory cards, external hard drives, pen drives, etc. It can recover data from both NTFS and FAT-based file partitions. It is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, XP, and 2000.