In Microsoft Windows, system.ini is a system initialization file, a text file containing configuration used by the OS when it starts up. It is used in Microsoft Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and Windows 98 to specify font, keyboard, language, and other settings. It is located in the directory C:\WINDOWS.

A related file, system.—, is a backup of system.ini created by Windows.

Computers running Windows NT 4.0, 2000, XP, or later operating systems no longer have a system.ini. Instead of storing these settings in the system.ini recent version of Windows stores settings in the system registry. For backward compatibility, Windows 2000 and Windows XP may have a basic or blank system.ini file.

To view or edit the win.ini from within Windows, use the sysedit or msconfig utilities. From the command line, use the edit command.

.ini file, Operating system terms, Windows, Win.ini

  • How to restore the system.ini and win.ini.