Windows XP - restarting on loading screen - strange problem 1

[DavePeters]

Hello, recently I decieded to dual boot my system so, I used partition magic to create a new drive for windows 98 to be installed (I planned on using the same method as my friend by using a free boot manager tool after the install)

However, once Xp rebooted at the partition was being reszied an error occured - it said something about an "atribute" being incorrect, at the time I didnt think it would be a problem and I would try again, But now EVERY TIME I switch my PO on, I get the message and menu asking me to "start windows normally", "restart in safe-mode" etc but none of the options work, it keeps restarting then going back to the menu.

Is there a way to correct this? I havent got an XP Home CD as it was bought from PC World and just contained recovery CDs that will format my system and I have a huge amount of data thats needed (I know I should backup but my HDD is 120gb and thats mostly used up)


PLEASE, I AM REALLY DESPERATE FOR A SOLUTION WITHOUT FORMATTING, IS THE ONLY SOLUTION TO BUY A COPY (AS I SAID I'VE ONLY RECOVERY CDS THAT CAME WITH THE PC) OF XP HOME AND CHOOSE REPAIR? Its an expensive option but thats all I can think off.


Thanks in advance - any suggestions would be grateful


Dave

 

[bcastner]

Before trying any NTFS utility, including Knoppix, try "TestDisk" from here:

http://www.cgsecurity.org/

 

[DavePeters]

I'vc ran a scan on testdisk and it didnt produce any error messages, I then ran a NTFS reader and all my files are still there.

Does anyone know of a program that can delete folders (NTFS) from DOS? as I think the fact that i'm out of space is preventing windows from booting.

If not I will install Knoppix and try and backup my files with that.

Thanks

 

[DavePeters]

Instead of using the 6 floppy disk images that I downloaded from the microsoft site, I used the XP cd from work and ran chkdsk and alls ok!

For some reason when I used chkdsk with the floppy disks, it kept asking me for autochk.exe.

But its 100% fine and i'm sending this message from the "problem" system.

Thanks for your help, your provided quick and informative responses.