I have a question on Windows XP boot problem

[Pete]

I cannot get into Winddows XP on my "C" drive. I have a
notebook (HP) and the recovery disk wants to format that
darn think. Can I use fdisk and make a partition and
install windows 95 or 98 and use that to recover some data
files. If so do I make that a primary partition. I
believe you can only have one boot partition??? Once I
retrieve the couple of files and a few pictures I will
then format the whole thing using my recovery CD from HP
that came with the notebook.

Thanks for your time,
Pete

[D.Currie]

Fdisk won't work to create a partition since you haven't empty space to put
the partition in. You could buy Partition Magic and use that to create your
partition. As for installing 95 or 98 to recover data, that will only work
if your XP partition is Fat 32 instead of NTFS. And then you're going to
have to deal with getting 98 working well enough to use...

The easier thing to do would be to put the drive in a working computer and
copy your files to a CD. you'd need an adapter to put the laptop drive in a
standard PC.

It might be less painful overall if you just take it to a local shop and ask
them to do it. It might cost a little more than the hardware and/or software
you'd have to buy to do it yourself, but it would be a lot less headache.

"Pete" > wrote in message
...
> I cannot get into Winddows XP on my "C" drive. I have a
> notebook (HP) and the recovery disk wants to format that
> darn think. Can I use fdisk and make a partition and
> install windows 95 or 98 and use that to recover some data
> files. If so do I make that a primary partition. I
> believe you can only have one boot partition??? Once I
> retrieve the couple of files and a few pictures I will
> then format the whole thing using my recovery CD from HP
> that came with the notebook.
>
> Thanks for your time,
> Pete
>

[Pete]

Do you think buying the full version of Windows XP would
let me repair my system. I've been thinking about just
doing that if it will work. I would like to have a full
version just for time reason. I get tired of having HP
holding me hostage with their recovery CD's
Pete



>-----Original Message-----
>Fdisk won't work to create a partition since you haven't
empty space to put
>the partition in. You could buy Partition Magic and use
that to create your
>partition. As for installing 95 or 98 to recover data,
that will only work
>if your XP partition is Fat 32 instead of NTFS. And then
you're going to
>have to deal with getting 98 working well enough to use...
>
>The easier thing to do would be to put the drive in a
working computer and
>copy your files to a CD. you'd need an adapter to put the
laptop drive in a
>standard PC.
>
>It might be less painful overall if you just take it to a
local shop and ask
>them to do it. It might cost a little more than the
hardware and/or software
>you'd have to buy to do it yourself, but it would be a
lot less headache.
>
>"Pete" > wrote in message
...
>> I cannot get into Winddows XP on my "C" drive. I have a
>> notebook (HP) and the recovery disk wants to format that
>> darn think. Can I use fdisk and make a partition and
>> install windows 95 or 98 and use that to recover some
data
>> files. If so do I make that a primary partition. I
>> believe you can only have one boot partition??? Once I
>> retrieve the couple of files and a few pictures I will
>> then format the whole thing using my recovery CD from HP
>> that came with the notebook.
>>
>> Thanks for your time,
>> Pete
>>
>
>
>.
>

[D.Currie]

If it was me, I'd buy the full version. With that, theoretically, you could
run a repair install, or get into the recovery console, or whatever you need
to do to get back running again. At worst, you could do a parallel install
(put widows in a different folder, temporarily) just to get your data off,
then format and do a nice clean install.

"Pete" > wrote in message
...
> Do you think buying the full version of Windows XP would
> let me repair my system. I've been thinking about just
> doing that if it will work. I would like to have a full
> version just for time reason. I get tired of having HP
> holding me hostage with their recovery CD's
> Pete
>
>
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >Fdisk won't work to create a partition since you haven't
> empty space to put
> >the partition in. You could buy Partition Magic and use
> that to create your
> >partition. As for installing 95 or 98 to recover data,
> that will only work
> >if your XP partition is Fat 32 instead of NTFS. And then
> you're going to
> >have to deal with getting 98 working well enough to use...
> >
> >The easier thing to do would be to put the drive in a
> working computer and
> >copy your files to a CD. you'd need an adapter to put the
> laptop drive in a
> >standard PC.
> >
> >It might be less painful overall if you just take it to a
> local shop and ask
> >them to do it. It might cost a little more than the
> hardware and/or software
> >you'd have to buy to do it yourself, but it would be a
> lot less headache.
> >
> >"Pete" > wrote in message
> ...
> >> I cannot get into Winddows XP on my "C" drive. I have a
> >> notebook (HP) and the recovery disk wants to format that
> >> darn think. Can I use fdisk and make a partition and
> >> install windows 95 or 98 and use that to recover some
> data
> >> files. If so do I make that a primary partition. I
> >> believe you can only have one boot partition??? Once I
> >> retrieve the couple of files and a few pictures I will
> >> then format the whole thing using my recovery CD from HP
> >> that came with the notebook.
> >>
> >> Thanks for your time,
> >> Pete
> >>
> >
> >
> >.
> >

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Be aware that the RC does not allow access to all folders. Also be aware
that the full retail version of WinXP may not contain needed drivers for all
the laptop hardware, so it may not run properly. Only the HP modified one
will. I do agree however, that a parallel installation is a good method, you
may also need to "take ownership", see:

HOW TO: Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP [Q308421]
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421

You might still want to consider bringing it to a shop for file recovery, as
that will be cheaper (in most cases) than the full price of WinXP Pro. You
might also want to try NTFS for DOS, see:

http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/NTFSDOS.shtml

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Win98 Help - www.rickrogers.org

"D.Currie" > wrote in message
...
> If it was me, I'd buy the full version. With that, theoretically, you
could
> run a repair install, or get into the recovery console, or whatever you
need
> to do to get back running again. At worst, you could do a parallel install
> (put widows in a different folder, temporarily) just to get your data off,
> then format and do a nice clean install.
>
> "Pete" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Do you think buying the full version of Windows XP would
> > let me repair my system. I've been thinking about just
> > doing that if it will work. I would like to have a full
> > version just for time reason. I get tired of having HP
> > holding me hostage with their recovery CD's
> > Pete
> >
> >
> >
> > >-----Original Message-----
> > >Fdisk won't work to create a partition since you haven't
> > empty space to put
> > >the partition in. You could buy Partition Magic and use
> > that to create your
> > >partition. As for installing 95 or 98 to recover data,
> > that will only work
> > >if your XP partition is Fat 32 instead of NTFS. And then
> > you're going to
> > >have to deal with getting 98 working well enough to use...
> > >
> > >The easier thing to do would be to put the drive in a
> > working computer and
> > >copy your files to a CD. you'd need an adapter to put the
> > laptop drive in a
> > >standard PC.
> > >
> > >It might be less painful overall if you just take it to a
> > local shop and ask
> > >them to do it. It might cost a little more than the
> > hardware and/or software
> > >you'd have to buy to do it yourself, but it would be a
> > lot less headache.
> > >
> > >"Pete" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > >> I cannot get into Winddows XP on my "C" drive. I have a
> > >> notebook (HP) and the recovery disk wants to format that
> > >> darn think. Can I use fdisk and make a partition and
> > >> install windows 95 or 98 and use that to recover some
> > data
> > >> files. If so do I make that a primary partition. I
> > >> believe you can only have one boot partition??? Once I
> > >> retrieve the couple of files and a few pictures I will
> > >> then format the whole thing using my recovery CD from HP
> > >> that came with the notebook.
> > >>
> > >> Thanks for your time,
> > >> Pete
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> > >.
> > >
>
>