Stuck in 256 colours! Also "invalid boot.ini file"

[FVH3]

Hi.
Yesterday I started up netmeeting to chat with a friend of mine, and (as sometimes happens when I run internet-comptible software - I don't know why) I was kicked out into a blue screen and told my physcial memory dump was complete and I should see my system administrator.
I reset the machine and waited through the check it does (unfortunately I can't remember what it is called - invalidity check?). When I logged in I noticed all my icons were in 256-colour. I did the basic stuff - altering the desktop settings, reinstalling the graphics driver, trying to change the icons - but it didn't work. What's particularly odd is that the desktop background is not 256-colour (I checked by changing the settings to 256-colour temporarily).

Also, I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the fact that for the past week or so I have been getting an "Invalid boot.ini file. Booting from c:\winnt\" message at startup.

My PC has a single-hard drive, single operating system, and a nVidia GeForce2 MX/MX 400 graphics driver.

Can anyone help, please? This is really irritating me...
Thanks in advance.

 

[FVH3]

I thought I had found the problem; in some accounts the "Use all possible colours for icons" option was unchecked. Unfortunately this didn't help either.

 

[jpm121]

Warnings of a bad boot.ini file makes a virus spring to mind. Are you running updated virus software? By updated I mean you downloaded new definitions TODAY.

Something happened to the part of your hard drive that tells it how to fire up windows. It's figuring it out on its own, but something is mangled in there.

I'd suggest making a backup of all your stuff to CD or whatever (at least documents). Then I'd say you may be in for a re-install of XP.

But please check for a virus.

 

[FVH3]

Thanks jpm.
I did check for viruses the day this happened using an online virus scanner (

http://housecall.trendmicro.com),

but it didn't find anything. I suppose I'll have to reinstall Windows...although I could really do without the hassle for the sake of a few icons. Is there a way to edit the part of the hard drive that tells it how to fire up Windows - the CMOS or BIOS or whatever?

 

[FVH3]

I have fixed the icon problem now, it turns out it was a problem caused by NetMeeting's Remote Desktop Sharing option. (For potential future reference) I had to change the necessary option to 'share in true colour', close netmeeting, and use TweakUI's Rebuild Icons feature to fix it.

 

[NiteMareBug]

Are you still getting the error about the boot.ini file? If so check its contents. you'll find it at the root of c:
c:\boot.ini, you may needed to unhide it using the tools in explorer. It should contain something similar to this depending on how many OS's you have installed....

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows VGA"

please be becareful, you may stop you system starting at all if you get it wrong.

 

[FVH3]

That's odd...I turned on the Show Hidden Files option and looked in c:\ but it wasn't there. I couldn't find a boot.* file in a search either, and it's not on the McAfee Backup Disk I made when I first got the PC.

 

[NiteMareBug]

Depending on what OS you are using there's two options.
Make sure you have "show Hidden Files and Folders" checked, and "hide Protected Operating Systems Files(recommended)" unchecked.

So I guess if you still can't see it, that's why it's invalid.

 

[BuckeyeComputers]

I think there is another one you have to uncheck called hide protected files

 

[FVH3]

Ah thanks, I didn't have the 'hide Protected OS Files' unchecked...but I still couldn't find it. Is it safe to use someone else's, or copy the one above?

 

[NiteMareBug]

I would suggest you find someone running the same OS, which is installed in the same location, and copy thiers.

Rather than using the one above.