The "boot.ini" is a Microsoft initialization file found on the Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Windows 2000, and Microsoft Windows XP operating systems. This file is always located on the root directory of the primary hard disk drive. In other words, it is located at "C:\" directory or the "C Drive". This file is used by Microsoft Windows as a method of displaying a menu of operating systems currently on the computer and allowing the user to easily select which operating system to load. In addition, this file is also used to point to the locations of each of the operating systems.

Boot.ini is one of the very first files that come into play when a Windows XP or 2000 system is started up. It is a plain text file that is kept in the system root, so it is usually C:\boot.ini. Because it is an essential system file, the attributes are set to hidden, system, read-only to protect it. That means that it will not appear in the file lists in My Computer or Windows Explorer unless the default Windows settings are changed to show hidden files.

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