In the Windows systems, the Boot.ini file is very critical for startup purposes. This file contains the listing of the operating system to load during the boot process, among many other things. However, despite being a system file this is not marked as read-only. Because of this, at times this file gets modified or start containing incorrect entries, which could easily lead to startup problems thereby making the system insecure. You should try to edit the boot.ini file and restart the system and see if the problem is solved. If it is not, then you should use a hard drive recovery software to recover hard drive.
Take a real-world example in which you are trying to install Windows Vista but are unable to select the Upgrade option. Also, in the Install Windows dialog box, the following error message is displayed:
“Upgrade has been disabled
- Windows cannot determine if another operating system exists on your computer. Try repairing the boot configuration, and then begin the installation again.”
Cause:
The problems in installing Windows Vista in this case may arise due to the corruption issues in the Boot.ini file. The Boot.ini file is having incorrect entries. Also, it may be possible that the boot path in this file is having incorrect location for the Windows directory.
Resolution:
To overcome this problem, you should modify the Boot,ini file to correct the invalid entries. However, you should backup the boot.ini file before doing anything modifications in order to avoid any further damage to it. To save the boot.ini file, you should perform the following steps
Click Start | Run and enter 'sysdm.cpl' and press the 'Enter' key.
In the 'Advanced' tab, click the 'Settings' option in the 'Startup and Recovery' section.
In 'System Startup', click the 'Edit' option to open the file in Notepad for editing.
Click File | Save As and save another copy of the boot.ini file.
In the original Boot.ini file, edit the settings as per the individual options.
Please note that you should edit the boot.ini file in the presence of a trained technician as it could lead to further damage, if badly done.
If you are unable to upgrade to Vista even after modifying the boot.ini file, then you should a third-party Windows recovery software to recover the inaccessible data. These read-only tools are very helpful as they use extremely safe scanning algorithms to recover hard drive.
When it comes to recovering hard drive, the best third-party software is Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery, which extracts data from various memory devices. With the capability to extract data from FAT, NTFS, and exFAT file systems, this hard drive recovery software is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, XP, and 2000.
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