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Thread ID: 95699	2008-12-14 23:18:00	Dual boot gone wrong	dre (14409)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
729134	2008-12-15 00:51:00	Ok, running through that now. Does it matter that all my files and folders are displayed in random numbers and symbols??	dre (14409)
729135	2008-12-15 00:55:00	There is "Partition1 [FAT]" (2MB free), should that say Windows? It's on C: drive. Plus there's no option to repair, just "set up XP (press ENTER)" or delete partition	dre (14409)
729136	2008-12-15 01:05:00	What step are you at ??? Have a look Through here (pcsupport.about.com) - it has pictures - if you are at Page/Step 6 as on that site it MUST show the current windows install - if it doesn't progressing any further WILL wipe all data.	wainuitech (129)
729137	2008-12-15 01:09:00	Nope, not quite like the picture in step 6. It says "The following list shows the existing partitions and unpartitioned space on this computer then lists the partitions	dre (14409)
729138	2008-12-15 01:28:00	Does any of the partitions show Windows - if it doesn't then windows is badly screwed ( again by Linux) Seen that happen a few times - your data willstill be there - just may have to slave the drive to another PC and copy the data off, then reinstall XP from fresh - there is something else you can try - but I need to double check first ---Lunch time :drool	wainuitech (129)
729139	2008-12-15 01:33:00	Ok that would be great, thanks. Bed time for me. Typical, getting my external hard drive for xmas, should've waited until then. Many thanks for your help	dre (14409)
729140	2008-12-15 01:46:00	Bed time ??? either you are Very young or Not in new Zealand - its only 2.45pm here. have a look at This article (tinyempire.com) - make the bootable CD, and see if windows will boot from it - if it can then theres a chance its fixable - if it doesn't then ------ We'll get to that stage then.	wainuitech (129)
729141	2008-12-15 11:11:00	I'm in the good ol UK. Tried all them options, no luck :-( says missing hal file for first then hardware error for the rest. Should all the files be properly accessible from the recovery console? It probably can't find the hal file because it's called some random group of numbers and symbols. Suppose this doesn't look good then?	dre (14409)
729142	2008-12-15 21:09:00	Mabix is referring possibly to a repair install - you hit the R at the wrong time ( to early) . Heres how to do a repair install . You will need your 25 digit product key for this . Place XP CD in drive: Reboot or shutdown and start PC . 1 . When the Press any key to boot from CD message is displayed on your screen, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD . 2 . Press ENTER when you see the message To setup Windows XP now, and then press ENTER displayed on the Welcome to Setup screen . 3 . Do not choose the option to press R to use the Recovery Console . 4 . In the Windows XP Licensing Agreement, press F8 to agree to the license agreement . NOTE: In the NEXT step if it doesn't locate your old OS STOP! As any further actions may result in wiping your data . 5 . Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP is selected in the box, and then press R to repair Windows XP . 6 . Follow the instructions on the screen to complete Setup . Hi there Dre, yeah I was referring to a repair install and not the recovery console, I thought you would have known that since you said you used Fixboot and FixMBR? Anyway this aside, you might be best to try and recover files and reinstall . . Sounds like corruption when you resized the NTFS partition . If you can still get into linux, can that read your files in the Windows Drive? Burn them to a disc and re install, it might be the easiest option . Otherwise, Wainuitech might be able to find a way to get your files back, but it sounds like the file system has been damaged, here's an explanation: From Wikipedia ( . wikipedia . org/wiki/Filesystem#File_names" target="_blank">en . wikipedia . org) File names Whether the file system has an underlying storage device or not, file systems typically have directories which associate file names with files, usually by connecting the file name to an index in a file allocation table of some sort, such as the FAT in a DOS file system, or an inode in a Unix-like file system . Directory structures may be flat, or allow hierarchies where directories may contain subdirectories . In some file systems, file names are structured, with special syntax for filename extensions and version numbers . In others, file names are simple strings, and per-file metadata is stored elsewhere . [edit] Metadata Other bookkeeping information is typically associated with each file within a file system . The length of the data contained in a file may be stored as the number of blocks allocated for the file or as an exact byte count . The time that the file was last modified may be stored as the file's timestamp . Some file systems also store the file creation time, the time it was last accessed, and the time that the file's meta-data was changed . (Note that many early PC operating systems did not keep track of file times . ) Other information can include the file's device type (e . g . , block, character, socket, subdirectory, etc . ), its owner user-ID and group-ID, and its access permission settings (e . g . , whether the file is read-only, executable, etc . ) . Arbitrary attributes can be associated on advanced file systems, such as XFS, ext2/ext3, some versions of UFS, and HFS+, using extended file attributes . This feature is implemented in the kernels of Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS X operating systems, and allows metadata to be associated with the file at the file system level . This, for example, could be the author of a document, the character encoding of a plain-text document, or a checksum . What it's saying is that all Metadata ( File names and information, etc) is stored else where, and it sounds like this could be damaged . I don't know how NTFS works, but I'm sure someone else can explain Best of Luck, and remember next time to backup! Maverick .	mabix (10146)
729143	2008-12-15 21:33:00	I've had a similar message with dual boot involving hal, and it could well be your boot.ini file is referring to a wrong partition, or a wrong something.	rumpty (2863)
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