Reinstalling XP on a fubared system
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Skaven




Posts: 158

PostPosted: Fri, 2nd May 2008 02:59    Post subject: Reinstalling XP on a fubared system
Hey,

Does anyone know the answer to this. Ive got a friend who can't boot into windows xp - no matter what ive tried I can't get it to work either, so im left with the option of reinstalling xp. However, when it gets to reinstalling it does not pick up the previous OS install. If I go ahead and just install it anyway will all the data that she currently has on there be compleatly lost?

The only reason I haven't got ahead is that apparently she's got some mp3's or some shit on there she wants keeping and as its on an NTFS file system its impossible to access (tried using ntfs4dos as well but im getting shitty errors trying to get it to work)
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Parallax_
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Location: Norway
PostPosted: Fri, 2nd May 2008 07:17    Post subject:
Have you tried mounting the harddrive on another system?


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Skaven




Posts: 158

PostPosted: Fri, 2nd May 2008 10:21    Post subject:
nope. it would mean having to take the system back home with me, which is logistically impossible atm.
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headshot
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Posts: 34618
Location: UK
PostPosted: Fri, 2nd May 2008 11:32    Post subject:
It will only be completely lost if you format the drive or delete the partition as part of the XP setup first. It could also be lost if the HDD is defective. You can reinstall XP on a partition that already has an O/S and you wont lose any personal data.


May the NFOrce be with you always.
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Skaven




Posts: 158

PostPosted: Fri, 2nd May 2008 11:39    Post subject:
great, thats what I needed to know, cheers!
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Spiderman
Banned



Posts: 5877

PostPosted: Fri, 2nd May 2008 12:53    Post subject:
1. Get her disk and plug in into your computer to copy the most important data that she wants
2. Then just delete the old MBR from his HDD with the help of Hirens BOOT CD
3. Install windows from the boot cd and make two partitions 20 Gig for winxp and the other for other stuff
4. Copy her stuff from your HDD to hers
5. Your are done
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Nui
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Posts: 5720
Location: in a place with fluffy towels
PostPosted: Fri, 2nd May 2008 13:08    Post subject:
BlueSkyz wrote:
3. Install windows from the boot cd and make two partitions 20 Gig for winxp and the other for other stuff
When you regard programs as other stuff as well, which i do, 20GB are a bit much. I took my 20GB for my C:\ as a safety net for vista, but now there is 12,9GB left Smile
Haven't installed many retarded programs, that will, like it or not, take C:\ as their nest, though. Photoshop is one of them

But its questionable whether one should even try to maximize space or even performance for some people Razz
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Skaven




Posts: 158

PostPosted: Sun, 4th May 2008 20:01    Post subject:
Well, I ended up just reformatting and reinstalling again. Turns out the system didn't even recognise the file system in use, very odd.

Cheers for the help chaps
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WbS




Posts: 165

PostPosted: Sun, 4th May 2008 20:06    Post subject:
you can always use ubcd4win, boot it and copy everything to an external drive. works like a charm. just want to let you know for next time Smile
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Spiderman
Banned



Posts: 5877

PostPosted: Sun, 4th May 2008 20:32    Post subject:
Nui wrote:
BlueSkyz wrote:
3. Install windows from the boot cd and make two partitions 20 Gig for winxp and the other for other stuff
When you regard programs as other stuff as well, which i do, 20GB are a bit much. I took my 20GB for my C:\ as a safety net for vista, but now there is 12,9GB left Smile
Haven't installed many retarded programs, that will, like it or not, take C:\ as their nest, though. Photoshop is one of them

But its questionable whether one should even try to maximize space or even performance for some people Razz

yeah i know but its better to have 12,9gig then 2,9 gig Razz
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dirtymurt




Posts: 1030

PostPosted: Tue, 13th May 2008 23:54    Post subject:
you can still recover those files. even after a format and reinstall, chances are you can get them back. Lots of good software out there to do this, filescavenger, powerdatarecovery, etc....lots to choose from


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