Need Urgent Computer Assistance Please

[Goober]

Hi Guys,

Ok, I apologize for sounding a bit panicky, but, well, I have reason. I recently got a copy of Ubuntu Linux 4.10 from a friend, and I just tried to install it. I put it in the CD drive, changed the bios settings to boot from the CD, and started installing. Well, when it came time to partition the hard-drives, I realized I didn't have enough space to do it. I had like 100 MB left, not big enough for a partition.

So then I shut the computer down, restarted it, took out the Ubuntu Linux Install CD, expecting it to start up to Windows again. Well, it didn't. For some reason, I got a "Error loading operating system" mesage right after the "Loading DMI Data Pool" message came up in start up. So, my question is, what happened? I have tried fiddling with the BIOS settings, tell it to boot from the floppy drive, HDD-0 through HDD-3. I have 3 boot settings, First, Second, and Third. I have a bunch of BIOS settings to choose from. Which will allow me to load up Windows again?

And I tried the Windows CD, but that was no help. Apparently it wouldn't let me boot from the Windows CD. It just started reinstalling WSinodws, which I do not want to do.

So, my question is how can I fix this? All I want to do is to be able to access my regular Windows Desktop again. What do I do to make this happen? Or have I messed something up? Also, what information do I need to help the Computer hizzes here solve this?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Goober.

PS - It is kind of urgent since I have some material on there that I need to study for my exam on Wednesday.
PPS - I don't mind re-installing windows, as long as I can save the data on my hard-drives.

[Chairman Meow]

Did you try to change the partition table while you were trying to install Ubuntu? It's possble that you accidentally rendered the Windows partition unbootable doing that. If your friend has a copy of a live-boot CD, such as Knoppix or Mepis, use that to boot the computer, then try to access your Windows partition from there, and hopefully you'll still be able to access your Windows partition. Most likely, you'll have to reinstall Windows (but when you do, and if you still plan to install Ubuntu, make a smaller partition for Windows, leaving space for Ubuntu.)

[Goober]

Thanks Chairman, I PMed you some questions,namely can I boot from a Windows Floppy Disk made on another computer, and, second, if I re-install windows, will I lose all my info on my hardrives?

[Cheetah]

Originally Posted by RealGoober

Thanks Chairman, I PMed you some questions,namely can I boot from a Windows Floppy Disk made on another computer, and, second, if I re-install windows, will I lose all my info on my hardrives?

1. Yes, that is possible.

2. Most likely yes. However, if you tell Windows to reinstall without formating you should be able to save all your data. But don't take my word for it.


Now, I would try to insert the windows disk and boot from it. Try to get to commandprompt or something. Then fix the Main Boot Record (MBR).

It would help a lot though if you could tell us which version of Windows you have, and how many disks and partitions you have, and which ones you have installed Windows and Linux on.

[Goober]

Ya, I made the Boot Disk, and I am at a screen with A:/>, and a cursor flashing. My next goal is to figure out what to do next. I presume that this is MSDOS mode. I guess I need to try and get back to Windows, not sure how though.

I have Windows XP Home Edition, Service Pack 2. I have no partitons, but 2 hard drives, D and F. Of those, D is my master, F the slave. Or Primary and Secondary, those politically correct among us. XP is installed on the D drive, the Primary. I tried partitioning D to install Linux, but, well, evidently it deleted something important. Linux is not installed, and I went back, and deleted the partition.

What would be most convenient is to somehow mdo the System Restore to like 2 days ago, and then just reboot, and everything magically works again . . .

[ainwood]

I <think> you can just reinstall windows XP, and it will save all your data. And the XP Install should identify all the partitions as part of the install (and let you create more, or delete existing ones, if you want to).

[Zelig]

Originally Posted by ainwood

I <think> you can just reinstall windows XP, and it will save all your data. And the XP Install should identify all the partitions as part of the install (and let you create more, or delete existing ones, if you want to).

Yes, that is correct.

You can install XP over your old copy, and it will even save all of your settings and the like.

[Goober]

Ya, that is what I am trying now. Currently I tried to install Windows on my other Harddrive, but it didn't work, missing "NTLDR" or something. I am going to try and re-install it on my Hardrive with the corrupted version of Windows now.

Hopefully it shall work *crosses fingers*

[Goober]

Ok, I have run into a new problem. I have re-installed Windows onto my D drive, my main hardrive that it was installed on before. However, it is not working. When I rebooted the computer, I get nothing but a blinking cursor after the "Verfied DMI data poll" message. Like, nothing happens.

Then I installed Windows on my other hardrive. When I boot up the computer after that, I get a message saying I am missing "NTLDR", and asking me to restart. Any suggestions?

What I am considering might be the problem, is that whenever I install it, after it has deleted the old files, and loaded the new files on, it says to "Restart to continue setup". However, when I restart, it does not continue setup, it just goes back to the screen asking me if I want to repair or install windows. When I click repair, I get an MSDOS like screen, and am able to access either the D or F drive installations of Windows. I am do some basic commands including "fixboot" and "fixmbr". Neither seem to solve my problem, however.

So, am I doing something wrong? Do i need to format the drives, and start again? All my data is still there from before, btw. Please help!

[Chairman Meow]

Originally Posted by RealGoober

Ok, I have run into a new problem. I have re-installed Windows onto my D drive, my main hardrive that it was installed on before. However, it is not working. When I rebooted the computer, I get nothing but a blinking cursor after the "Verfied DMI data poll" message. Like, nothing happens.

Then I installed Windows on my other hardrive. When I boot up the computer after that, I get a message saying I am missing "NTLDR", and asking me to restart. Any suggestions?

What I am considering might be the problem, is that whenever I install it, after it has deleted the old files, and loaded the new files on, it says to "Restart to continue setup". However, when I restart, it does not continue setup, it just goes back to the screen asking me if I want to repair or install windows. When I click repair, I get an MSDOS like screen, and am able to access either the D or F drive installations of Windows. I am do some basic commands including "fixboot" and "fixmbr". Neither seem to solve my problem, however.

So, am I doing something wrong? Do i need to format the drives, and start again? All my data is still there from before, btw. Please help!

When it tells you to restart to continue setup, remove the CD (and make sure it is set to boot from the HD.)
edit - also, before you reinstall, you'll need to reformat the drive. If you have access to a good internet connection, I'd recommend downloading Knoppix, burning it to a CD, then using that to get the files that you want to keep (if you haven't gotten them already)
Then, reformat the drive, and reinstall Windows (remembering to remove the CD when it tells you to restart)

[stormbind]

RealGoober, the solutions to your problems are all documented on http://support.microsoft.com in the Knowledge Base (top-left).

The best I can do is go there, copy & paste here. The solutions are easy to follow step-by-step. If you have any problems understanding, please ask

[Goober]

Ok, I am still not able to get Windows to work. However, I am currently using Linux, which is very cool! I have a friend coming over to help me later on, just to let you guys know. I am solving the problem.

As always, thanks a bunch for all your help!

[gonzo_for_civ]

Don't rule out using linux to backup the data from that drive, and then re-formatting and re-installing from scratch. I usually don't recommend working with repaired windows installations, as they tend to be buggy at best.

[Goober]

Hmm, can I use Linux to access the data on those drives? If I could, that would be awesome . . . the amount of data I want to save is not that extensive.

[ainwood]

Originally Posted by RealGoober

Hmm, can I use Linux to access the data on those drives? If I could, that would be awesome . . . the amount of data I want to save is not that extensive.

I believe that's one of the benefits of ubuntu (I have only read this - I have not tried it).

[Mise]

You might just be able to do:
mount /dev/hda1 /c -t vfat
which will mount whatever partition is called "hda1" to "/c" . "vfat" is the file system (change to "ntfs" where appropriate). You can find out what your partitions are called using fdisk I think. IIRC ntfs file systems are read only, but I'm not sure I've only ever used linux with win98. But if you just want to copy the important ones to the linux partitions that shouldn't be a problem.

Try googling if you want more definitive help, cos its been a while since I got rid of linux.

[Chairman Meow]

Originally Posted by Mise

You might just be able to do:
mount /dev/hda1 /c -t vfat
which will mount whatever partition is called "hda1" to "/c" . "vfat" is the file system (change to "ntfs" where appropriate). You can find out what your partitions are called using fdisk I think. IIRC ntfs file systems are read only, but I'm not sure I've only ever used linux with win98. But if you just want to copy the important ones to the linux partitions that shouldn't be a problem.

Try googling if you want more definitive help, cos its been a while since I got rid of linux.

He runs XP, so it would be ntfs, and ntfs is read-only in Linux.

[Goober]

Ya, I found a Ubuntu Forum, and I asked them, and they toldf me how. I also found the User Guide for Ubuntu Linux, which tells me how to do all kinds of cool things, like Download codecs to watch movies and play DVDs, and all kinds of cool stuff.

I am now saving whatever I can on my Hardrive, and then will format, and reinstall Windows. Man I love linux. I also found a utility, Cedega, which allows me to play Games in linux, Unfortunately, it costs money. And I dun do the whole credit card over internet thing.

[gonzo_for_civ]

Why no credit card over the internet? I haven't heard of any significant problems in the last few years except where companies were storing CC info. As long as you opt to not have your information stored in the database you should be fine(and if not you could probably milk a pretty penny out of it ).

[Aphex_Twin]

Maybe you erased the Master Boot Record. I remember the NTLDR error message came up when there was something wrong with MBR. The NTLDR is the program that loads the OS. Now, if your system is pretty standard (boots from C:\ and Win is located in C:\WINDOWS) I think you can get a copy of the MBR and simply insert it in the first sector of the hard disk.

You can do that with a little program called HexPlorer http://artemis.wszib.edu.pl/~mdudek/ ,
which you can download it here: http://artemis.wszib.edu.pl/~mdudek/moje/hex_setup.exe

Hexplorer can view and modify raw bytes of data anywhere on your floppy, hard disk or CD-rom (of course, it cannot write to the CD...).

So you take your hard drive to someone you know who has XP. Download Hexplorer. Copy the MBR - the first sector of that person's hard disk - into a file. Then paste it onto your own hard drive.

Well, if there's something wrong with the NTLDR itself you can check this out
http://www.tinyempire.com/shortnotes...dr_missing.htm

You could do this with raw bytes also, just that I don't know from where to where lies this NTLDR