Hello, earlier tonight I was installing BETA version of Mandrake Linux 9.0 and I realised I needed to partition my drive. I tried making the partition within mandrake but ther wasnt an option within the mandrake setup. So i go into my WindowsXP and do the disk management option but there want a partition option. So I tried doing the DOS partition program within Comand Promt, which I realised wouldnt work because Comand Promt is just a emulator of DOS. So I stuck in a Windows 98 intall disk and went to DOS from there. when i typed the comand for partitioning I did all the right options and stuff but when it started the process it froze. so restarted with the windows 98 disk still in. i went into DOS again. stuck in the PartitionMagic cd and the .exe wouldnt run for sum reason. at this point i think im hitting a streak of BAD LUCK. so then i try booting back into WindowsXP but it tells me that the C: drive is all CURRUPT! but i really dont want to format my drive. any ideas guys?????

Your problem is easily solved. Simply restore your C drive from backups!

Just kidding. Despite the fact that the data on your C drive is crucial, I know that you will never back it up. Not even before you run a repartioning tool to install a BETA release of an OS.

Well, you might try File Scavenger. And while you're on that page, click on QueTek's data recovery link. If the C drive is worth the $500 to $1000 that they will charge you, do that before you try the Scavenger yourself.

The problem is I cant even get into the OS to do anything. I know I can solve the problem just by buying a floppy drive since my current one is broken. Also I can just stick in WindowsXP install again and install it then back up everything from there. You are right though. WHAT WAS I THINKING. And you know what, after the whole currupted thing happend I found the real version of Mandrake9.0 in an old CD case.

You're posting here and you need a computer to do that. Maybe you can disconnect the c drive from the screwed-up system and install it as a d or e drive in your good system.

Or if you can burn a cd, you can boot from that.

Or you can install a new drive in your screwed-up system and put an os on that and repair the bad drive.

Or you can contact QueTek and let them walk you through an evaluation.

Or you can take the screwed up system to a data recovery company. I'll bet you can find someone to recover the drive for less than $1000. The prices for data recovery have dropped over the past few years for cases where no hardware damage is present.

Buying a floppy may be an option too, but you will use that floppy maybe once a year. Floppies are getting mighty close to punched cards and paper tape. Old formats may never die, but they do fade to insignificance. If you don't have a cd burner, you might want to buy that instead. You will use a cd burner much more than once a year. And I'm not sure if you can fit a data recovery tool on a bootable floppy. But sure that you have a viable plan for that floppy drive.

Hmmm...the last time I backed up the C drive on this laptop I'm using was 12/08/03. Guess I better do another one this weekend. I'd hate to lose a couple of bookmarks or something.

i don't know exactly if i got it right; but you might want to try this:

repair the Master Boot record from the WinXP CD.

the option for that woule be <FIXMBR> from the recovery console. if it's successfull, and you are able to boot from there.

if the above didn't work try this.

copy the following files in to a BLANK floppy diskette.
Boot.ini
NTLDR
Ntdetect.com

then boot windows xp, afterwards, go in to the repair console, and go with the repair option.

if that works for you, try the same disk in to your linux box, and copy the entire thing "image it" if you have space in any linux mount point using the dd command. for references on this command try man dd.
or go to the linux documentation website.
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/

hope this woks for you>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

all fixed up now guys