How can I reload XP after file system failure? Had preload..

"Don Phillipson" wrote:

> "Larry" <Larry.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:B5A1D504-4BD5-4C35-A5F8-BC8F3DB52252@microsoft.com...
>
> > I was defragging the disk on my IBM R31 when power failed and now I can't
> > boot up. Sine my PC came with pre-load and not with disks, I'm at a loss
> to
> > figure out how to reload the operating system? Any tips on what to do?
> > Bottom of my PC has all the info I need to show I had purchased the
> original
> > XP--(I think) --
>
> For legal sales of WinXP, if the vendor does not supply
> CDs, he is supposed to supply them on a separate partition
> of the hard drive (usually hidden. Some vendors e.g. Dell
> do both, viz. supply PCs with WinXP preinstalled, and
> essential system files in a hidden partition, and CDs too.)
>
> --
> Don Phillipson
> Carlsbad Springs
> (Ottawa, Canada)
>
> Don,
That might be great news? How can I access the hidden files? I suppose
too, that they might have been whacked if I wrecked the file system, as I
suspect...

>

Larry wrote:

>> For legal sales of WinXP, if the vendor does not supply
>> CDs, he is supposed to supply them on a separate partition
>> of the hard drive (usually hidden. Some vendors e.g. Dell
>> do both, viz. supply PCs with WinXP preinstalled, and
>> essential system files in a hidden partition, and CDs too.)

>> Don,
> That might be great news? How can I access the hidden files? I suppose
> too, that they might have been whacked if I wrecked the file system, as I
> suspect...

Contact Lenovo tech support. They can send you recovery disks for a nominal
fee.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Larry wrote:
> "Don Phillipson" wrote:
>
>> "Larry" <Larry RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:B5A1D504-4BD5-4C35-A5F8-BC8F3DB52252@microsoft.com...
>>
>>> I was defragging the disk on my IBM R31 when power failed and now I can't
>>> boot up. Sine my PC came with pre-load and not with disks, I'm at a loss
>> to
>>> figure out how to reload the operating system? Any tips on what to do?
>>> Bottom of my PC has all the info I need to show I had purchased the
>> original
>>> XP--(I think) --
>> For legal sales of WinXP, if the vendor does not supply
>> CDs, he is supposed to supply them on a separate partition
>> of the hard drive (usually hidden. Some vendors e.g. Dell
>> do both, viz. supply PCs with WinXP preinstalled, and
>> essential system files in a hidden partition, and CDs too.)
>>
>> --
>> Don Phillipson
>> Carlsbad Springs
>> (Ottawa, Canada)
>>
>> Don,
> That might be great news? How can I access the hidden files? I suppose
> too, that they might have been whacked if I wrecked the file system, as I
> suspect...
>

If you use TestDisk, you may get some idea how many partitions are on there.
Even if things are so messed up, you cannot boot. If you need a DOS boot
disk, there are downloadable ones available.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step

I made my DOS boot floppy with Win98, but you can get them here.

http://www.bootdisk.com/

If you removed the drive from the computer, and connected it to another
computer, PowerQuest (Symantec) has an info utility. It will also
display partition information, but not with the intention of
fixing anything. Presumably, any partitions with funny label info
would be visible here (such as a hidden foreign partition), whereas
the Windows Disk Management might have less to say about them.

http://service1.symantec.com/Support/powerquest.nsf/pfdocs/2004073190203662

In terms of recovery procedures, you should be looking in the user manual,
as they may tell you there, which key to push, to initiate a system recovery
that blows away the entire C: drive and its contents. For some people,
the notion of losing all their email, their settings and the like, makes
that a less than palatable alternative. A "repair install", such as
is available with a WinXP install CD, is a bit more humane, than the
brute force recovery (replacement) option that comes with some
computers. You want to understand what your machine offers as an alternative,
before doing it. I wanted to make you aware that there is the potential
to lose data files, depending on how the manufacturer does their
recovery procedure.

If you need the files off the C: drive, then repair or file recovery
is the best approach. In other words, your first priority is to connect
the drive to another computer, repair or copy the drive (so you can
recover the files), and only as a last step, return the disk to the
original computer and use its "recovery" option. At least that
way, your files won't be unintentionally lost.

There is a small description here, of what is on an R31. It does
look like the 900MB recovery partition is set up to wipe out
the C: partition. Just press F11 during POST, if the drive was
in perfect condition (and you didn't mind losing the contents
of C. Otherwise, proceed a lot slower, and get the files off
it first.

http://web.qx.net/jonatha/r31/windows.html

I hope that R31 matches the description of your machine, as
who knows, maybe there is more than one R31 around.

Paul

Do they have a function key at boot that accesses this partition?
"Malke" <malke.TakeThisOut@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:eYLbTZ0JJHA.5336@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Larry wrote:
>
>>> For legal sales of WinXP, if the vendor does not supply
>>> CDs, he is supposed to supply them on a separate partition
>>> of the hard drive (usually hidden. Some vendors e.g. Dell
>>> do both, viz. supply PCs with WinXP preinstalled, and
>>> essential system files in a hidden partition, and CDs too.)
>
>>> Don,
>> That might be great news? How can I access the hidden files? I suppose
>> too, that they might have been whacked if I wrecked the file system, as I
>> suspect...
>
> Contact Lenovo tech support. They can send you recovery disks for a
> nominal
> fee.
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
> FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
>