boot.ini file problem

[psycosky]

recently iv got win 7 after I finished installind it every thing was ok but i had to restart my pc and then the problem came pop up it wrote "invalid boot.ini file" next row "c:/windows/" and windows refuse to start what do I do now

 

[jasper1000]

Can someone help me I have just installed windows 7 and got a message saying the installation was not successful and my privious operating system will be in stalled. The problem is it will not installed vista home basic. it just keeps trying to start windows 7 then shuts down and restarts with the same message appearing. Cannot get it to restart with vista basic. The machines i am using is only 2 months old and came with visa basic. My computer is unusable in this state. How can i break cycle. Thanks you for any help. i want to install on 2 more computers but no way until i get this sorted. Unable to use PC for anything

 

[clifford_cooley]

Hello psycosky - Welcome to w7forums

Did you format your Hard Drive before installing Windows 7?

 

[clifford_cooley]

Hello jasper1000 - Welcome to w7forums

Was you upgrading or doing a clean install?

 

[jasper1000]

Hi Clifford just upgrading. The problem is the computer is unusable as it just comes up with the same message then goes blank and trys to start window7. Wish i never bothered with this now. Just been on the MS website and the product key is not recognized. Bought a family version for £129 from PC World this morning

The message says unable to install 7 will now go back to original settings. i think it must me on atleast 60 restarts

When it comes up with the message there is a timmer bar at the bottom of the screen which gets about a thrid of the way across the screen before the computer restarts. something is not letting it goback to vista i think

 

[clifford_cooley]

Do you have anything on the computer you dont want to lose? If not you might concider doing a clean install.

Have you tried to install windows 7 again?

Did your computer come with recovery software?

 

[jasper1000]

I need everything on my computer did not back up as i thought it would be fine because it was on vista.
Cannot re install 7 as it is stuck in this cycle and can do nothing to get out of it.

I would like to get 7 off the computer can back to vista basic but not sure how i can.

I can get in to bios if that would help.

 

[clifford_cooley]

Try these Vista Repair Disc - http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/

Hopefully you can get back into Windows Vista so you can do your backups.

 

[jasper1000]

Thanks for the advise but doesent work as cannot do anything on the pc because this cycle it is in

 

[clifford_cooley]

Did you set your Bios to boot from the disk instead of the HD?

 

[jasper1000]

No i did not any way think it is too late .

just turn off my computer and back on and got a blue screen saying
"A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer"

Get this every time i turn it on

 

[davehc]

Download a live cd, there are several available (free) on the web. here is a good one:
http://download.cnet.com/BartPE-Bootable-Live-Windows-CD-DVD/3000-2094_4-10611131.html

You can then arrange your partitions and copy your essential data across before proceeding further.

 

[jasper1000]

DAVEHC
down loaded it onto a disk and put it into the PC but keep getting the blue screen with the same message

 

[jasper1000]

some how i have got into windows memory diagnostics tools. will see if i can get going from here

 

[Sycthus]

What brand and model is your mother board? If you have this, we can determine what your BIOS set-up key is, this will let you break the cycle if you are having trouble booting to a disk.
If you change the boot sequence, (the order in which your motherboard searches for a bootable software) your computer won't go towards your hard disk which Windows is on, it will only look at the disc for something to boot from. Remember the BIOS is separate from the OS.

 

[jasper1000]

Sycthus
Thanks its an emachine model EL1300
CPU athlon LE-1640 processor

I could not get out of this cycle so i turned the machine off now all i get is a blue screen

 

[Nibiru2012]

Did you set your Bios to boot from the disk instead of the HD?

You HAVE to change your DVD drive in the BIOS to be the first drive to boot up. Then do a clean install after reformatting the hard drive and putting in new partitions.

The reason you're locked into this endless cycle is because something has "mucked up" the hard drive. The ONLY way to install now is to boot from the DVD and re-install the Windows 7 again.

You probably won't even be able to go back to Vista unless eMachines shipped a "recovery DVD" with your desktop computer. I checked online and their User Guide is a waste of time.

If all else fails, call eMachines customer support and they'll walk you through it. That's what they are there for.

 

[jasper1000]

nibiru2012
Thank for your post
I was hopeing i would not have to reformat but it looks like this is the only way. I use my PC for work and have a lot of data/ e mails photos that i really cannot afford to loose. Going to mean loads of work for me next week getting this storted.

I would have backed up first but really was not expecting this to go so wrong. I mean we are talking about windows7!!!

Will keep you posted on this

I have managed to get in and have no choice but to go for the option for custom install as the other one just sends me in a loop i cannot get out of. Think i will loose a lot of data but i now want this to work so have taken this option all seems to be going fine at the minute.

ok that did not work either :-( Message computer restarted unexpectedly

Thanks