Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP boot process
The Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP boot process differ from the Windows 9x boot process. The Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP boot process also requires a set of files that differs from those required by the Windows 9x boot process. Table 6.1 lists these files as well as their default locations and the stages of the boot process associated with each file.
| Files Used in the Windows 2000 and Windows XP Boot Process | ||
| File | Location | Boot stage |
| Ntldr | System partition root (C:\ ) | Preboot and boot |
| Boot.ini | System partition root | Boot |
| Bootsect.dos | System partition root | Boot (optional) |
| Ntdetect.com | System partition root | Boot |
| Ntbootdd.sys | System partition root | Boot (optional) |
| Ntoskrnl.exe | %systemroot%\System32 | Kernel load |
| Hal.dll | %systemroot%\System32 | Kernel load |
| System | %systemroot%\System32\Config | Kernel initialization |
| Device drivers | %systemroot%\System32\Drivers | Kernel initialization |
Note: The string %systemroot% represents the folder in the boot partition on which the Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP system files were placed during installation. The default is C:\Winnt.
The Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP boot sequence consists of two sequences, the preboot sequence and the boot sequence.