Urgent help please- corrupt OS

[Capt.ArD]

Story: I turned on my computer today and it worked fine and dandy. I connected my PSP to it and within a minute of turning on USB mode, the whole thing crashed. I rebooted and tried again several times. Still crashed. Doesn't happen with other USB devcices, just the PSP. So anyway, I tried to clean up my computer hoping i would do something that would make it work again. (and my computer needed cleaning out.) I deleted the temp files and cleaned up the desktop and stuff like that. Didn't help my PSP problem.

So while I gave up on my PSP, and decided to wait and try again another day, i also decided to uninstall my copy of linux, which i never used anyway.
My setup consisted of two harddrives, one windows, the other half windows half Suse. I figured "if i reformat the half and half drive, then linux will be gone and i can use it all for windows!" So I reformatted with Maxblast and was pleased to see it work correctly. Then i rebooted.

The computer posts, but where it ususally loads the os, it says "GRUB loading error 16." I find out that GRUB is what lets you dual boot linux and windows, and i had somehow messed up the system by deleting linux. Error 16 i believe means that my OS files are corrupt, or something like that. So i tried unplugging the HD that used to have linux on it, and i get the same errors. I unplug the windows HD, and i get error 21 (requested disk not found). I tried rearranging the boot heirarchy to no avail. nothing i can think of works.

Questions:
What can i do to fix this?
Can i use windows recovery disks to restore the OS without removing my data?
If i cannot fix this, can i reinstall linux and somehow copy my NTFS files to a backup so i don't lose everything?
how would i get access to those files, seeing as how linux and windows are not supposed to be able to see each other's files?
Can i just take the bad drive to a friend's computer, set it up as a slave drive to his disks and use his computer to copy the files?

As far as I know, windows itself is not damaged, it's just residue from my dual boot looking for linux that is not there, causing it to freak out. I really do not want to lose all my data and have to rebuild my library of software/movies/music from scratch.

thanks for all the help in advance.

[Ralan]

Backup your files and reformat, you will need to put the data you want to keep on CD but it will most likly fix it. Hope it helps.

[EM1L]

Use something like norton ghost to allow you to see the files on your pc and format like said above.

[Capt.ArD]

Yes, i am thinking that is what i need to do. gives me a fresh start. the problem is that i have no way to access ANY of my files and i have over 90 GB of data, most of which i want to keep. I need a way to get at those files before i reformat.

Edit: Norton Ghost is a program. I cannot boot to windows. Ghost would have helped me if i had it before this, but as i cannot install it now, it will do me no good.

[EM1L]

Originally Posted by Capt.ArD

Yes, i am thinking that is what i need to do. gives me a fresh start. the problem is that i have no way to access ANY of my files and i have over 90 GB of data, most of which i want to keep. I need a way to get at those files before i reformat.

read my post.

[Ralan]

Originally Posted by Capt.ArD

Yes, i am thinking that is what i need to do. gives me a fresh start. the problem is that i have no way to access ANY of my files and i have over 90 GB of data, most of which i want to keep. I need a way to get at those files before i reformat.

get 10 DVDs and burn your files to a DVD (if you have a DVD burner)

[EM1L]

Originally Posted by Ralan

get 10 DVDs and burn your files to a DVD (if you have a DVD burner)

He cant use the os.

[cyanide]

insert windows installation cd
boot from cdrom after changing bios settings
after its loaded, press r to repair
type the password when it asks you to
after youre in the dos environment, type:

fixmbr

and finally, type exit to reboot. now just edit the bios to boot from the hard disk again
thats all there is too it.
guys, if you dont have a clue, dont try to 'help' people.

all that has happened is that he's wiped off grub off the mbr, so right now, theres no code there which tells the pc to boot from windows. fixmbr fixes the mbr.

[Capt.ArD]

ok, well i'm sure that'll work. but i'm afraid that i do not have instrallation disks for windows. My computer came with windowe already on it, and all i have are some "restore disks." I tried what you said and was able to access come kind of command prompt, but it says A:\\ not C:\\. ande fixmbr is not recognizeed as a valid command. i guess i need the windows disks. I may be able to get some from a friend later. ill look for a DL in the meantime. thanks for the help.

[PSP10011001]

Try to reformat it. That should work but the negative part of this option is that u will lose all your files

[Capt.ArD]

Ok, i finally found an XP install disk and tried repairing the mfg, but it asks me "which installation of windows i want to repair" and when i typed in "1" on a guess it asked me for my admin password.
now, call me stupid or what ever, but i am unaware of any such password. I have only one account on my computer, and it has all admin privledges, and i never have had to enter a password that i can remember.

what do i do? is there a default pasword that i can use or do i have to figure it out, or am i screwed?

[madsoul]

just leave it blank and try, it worked for me.

[Capt.ArD]

yeah, that didn't work. I tried almost every password i could think of, but none worked. microsoft says i may be able to get a third-party program to fix the mbr, so ill give it a look.

can i use DOS to do this instead of the repair console? that would be awesome.

[cyanide]

im not sure if you can use dos, since you need to get in repair mode. and the only way you can do that is by using the repair cd. secondly, im baffled that you dont know the admin password. try remembering. or if you bought your pc from somewhere, ask them.

[Skate3214]

Ok try this:

1)Go to a friends house download this http://gag.sourceforge.net/
and burn it to a Cd.

2)Put it into the computer that isnt working and change it to boot from the Cd drive

3)When it loads up follow the instructions to save it to the hard disk

4)Go into settings and choose "Add an operating system" and choose your windows partition

5)Save it to the hard disk again

6)now restart your computer choose to boot to the hard drive again

7)when the bootloader comes up choose the windows partition and it should boot.

Hope it works for you:icon_wink

[Capt.ArD]

yeah, im pretty embarassed that i can't remember my password. Anyway, i couldn't get dos to recognize my C: drive, so it wouldn't fix it. I ended up installing windows on my second harddrive and am copying the files from the old one to the new. i'm then gonna reformat the old drive and start fresh on that, with all my files backed up.

I appreciate all the help people offered, and i'm sorry that i was too stupid and forgetful to remember critical elements. BUt this experience has taught me a lot, and i get an opportunity to set up my computer the way it should be, and set up my own password, etc. At least i lost nothing.

Mods, as my problem is now solved, may close this thread.

[FreePlay]

Originally Posted by Capt.ArD

...I ended up installing windows on my second harddrive and am copying the files from the old one to the new. i'm then gonna reformat the old drive and start fresh on that, with all my files backed up.
...
Mods, as my problem is now solved, may close this thread.

Your problem might not be solved. I highly doubt that that'll work. Windows uses some pretty hard-coded file paths; you're going to have a lot of programs looking for files in the wrong places.

Have you actually tried booting the computer yet?

[cyanide]

obviously the apps wont work. its more of a problem with the registry than the hardcoded paths. and anyways, most of the "hardcoded" paths are just registry entries or ini files.

frankly, the best thing to do would be to just install a new bootloader. try wingrub, xosl, or a few others. try searching for bootloaders on wikipedia. i remember reading a topic which had listed all the bootmanagers/loaders

[Capt.ArD]

yes, i have booted the computer and it is okay, a few issues need ironing, but it's looking better. I really don't care if the programs still work, i only need the savedata and the music and all. I can reinstall the programs later.

but, yes the machine boots fine.

[FreePlay]

... savedata???

[mannymix03]

im assuming his saves for his computer games

or did he mean, saved data such as ms word docs, spread sheets, quickbooks.

speaking of this, you reminded me to back up my hdd. I have a whole year of business finances on this computer

[cyanide]

im buying a 1TB file server soon
all the warez, porn, games mmmmm.....