help with hard drive

Question

hi, first time user here. i need help with a specific situation.   i installed two window xp home editions onto my hard drive, each in different partitions, by accident. now im unable to log into my account which contain all my files.  whenever i reboot it asks me to choose which windows xp to run and neither gives me access to my original user account. how can i get rid of the extra, recently installed windows xp. or is there anyway i can access my folder through Local Disk, then back-up my data, and completely reformat my hard drive??   i tried running in running in safe mode with commmand prompt and uninstalling the extra windows xp os manually but a message said that i was missing necessary registry information. (this all started with a corrupt registry blue screen). i tried looking for the undo folder with the recovery console but it said that it doesn't exist.   if anyone can help, that'd be great. thanks.

rwm32 · Answer

When you boot XP, can you see the drive with your data on it? If you can and you have administrator rights, you should be able to take ownership of your data. Here's a Microsoft KB article on how to do it:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421

If you can't see the drive, get a command prompt and run DISKPART. But use caution and avoid cleaning your partition data! DISKPART gives you a command shell, which allows you to look at and manipulate partitions and volumes. Here's another MS KB article link:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300415/en-us

Failing that, have you tried loading the Recovery Console and using MAP, FIXBOOT, FIXMBR and BOOTCFG to recreate your boot list? Here's a link to where I posted recently on how to do this:

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=sw_winxp&message.id=194364#M194364

jvhil · Answer

thanks for the link. i was able to back up my files.

do you know how to format my hard drive? i have an inspiron 1200. i tried the dell pc restore, but the ctrl - f11 doesnt do anything on my computer. that wouldve been perfect.

ejn63 · Answer

Leave the utility (first) partition unless you have the utilities on CD. You can delete the others.

rwm32 · Answer

During a full install (i.e. not a repair) setup, you will have the option to delete existing partitions. If you delete all partitions (which will also get rid of any PC Restore partition -- but it sounds as though that's already been damaged, if pressing F11 at boot time didn't do anything), you can then choose to use the entire disk in one partition, with one operating system.

Note that EVERYTHING currently on your hard disk will be removed -- operating systems, data, the lot.

jvhil · Answer

yea i might of deleted the hidden partition with the pc restore. so now im at the screen that shows my different partitions in my hard drive.   -: Partition1 [FAT]        16 MB {8 MB Free} C: Partition [NFTS]       25651 mb {16921 MB FREE}   Unpartitioned space   2949 mb   do i delete all the partitions?

rwm32 · Answer

If you didn't get an XP reinstallation CD with your laptop, contact Dell support and ask them to send you one.

When you have the CD, press F12 repeatedly when you see the Dell boot screen, then choose to boot from CD. That will take you to Windows setup -- then you can do a full format and a clean XP installation. After that, you'll need to reinstall chipset drivers, followed by all the other drivers for your configuration, then XP updates.

jvhil · Answer

so if i run the setup using the boot disc, it would overwrite both of the operating systems?

bhav23 · Answer

Message Edited by bhav23 on 08-08-200603:50 PM

Storage, Drives & Media

help with hard drive

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