I had partition magic , my C drive has primary Xp and bootable linux. When I was cleaning some old files, I clicked on one of the dos commands under partition magic folder, it opened a dos command and asked me to select which one to use, In a hurry I selected 2 (linx boot drive). My computer shut down and during re-start it says it can't find the operating system. I did complete shutdown and re-started. It still gives the same message.

Can some one help me please ...

Thanks

a lot of possibility. you might have delete the drive, part of a partition, or a file.

try running recovery console with your xp cd.
if the windows partition is there
check to see if your windows partition is active with "diskpart" if not set it active
try "fixboot" and "fixmbr"

otherwise maybe other members here know another way.

sometimes i just give up, take out the drive, set as slave and put in another computer, pull all your save data/document and do a new system install. if you have a working backup image on ghost or acronis, it would be better. it might be less frustrating and time consuming than figuring why/how/what.
good luck.

I am not able to go to command prompt.
I don't know where I kept my PM CD.
I have bootable Disk which I created with PM, at that time my OS was windows me..... When I tried to booot from that disc it gives error and only goes to A:\\
Is there any way to get back to original boot ?

Can you, please explain step by step.
I don't understand where to type bootcfg as suggested in the readme.
Yes I want to recover the data first. Appreciate your help.

maddiebeagle said:You might be able to edit the boot.ini file, so that it reflects your Windows partition as your boot drive. (read me)

P.S. If you have data that you absolutely must not lose, you should concentrate on data recovery first, fixing your system last.

Thanks , I was anxiousely waiting for your response, refreshing this page every 5 mins.

I can't get to the recovery console, something I am missing to follow your suggestions.

When I strat the system , it stays at "Missing OS". How do I get to recovery console ? where do I execute bootcfg ?

Appreciate your help


maddiebeagle said:Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

Data recovery - read here for help.

editing the boot.ini file -

read the microsoft page.

Enter the recovery console, and use the command bootcfg /rebuild. It should scan your HD for windows installations, and edit the boot.ini file for you, so that windows loads at the next reboot. Or at least that's how its supposed to work

Good luck.

As a semi-last resort, if the other stuff doesn't work, you can also try a repair installation of Windows. Here's a good page that'll explain this in detail.

Please be aware that some harm could come to your linux partiton, if it hasn't already disappeared, if you do a repair installation. I don't know for sure, I really don't deal with Linux very much. Be careful, and good luck, again.

You may need to turn on hidden files and folders to see the file.

You mean to say , I can just use my XP CD and boot the system ? Or do I need to create a bootable CD ? Please clarify.

Thanks

maddiebeagle said:But where do I get windows bootable CD ?

Any genuine Windows CD since about Win98 should be bootable. AFAIK, EVERY WinXP CD should be bootable! You may need to setup your BIOS so that the CD drive is the first boot device, for it to work automaticaly. Otherwise, you may need to press F12, or some other F-key to manually choose your boot device.

maddiebeagle said:As a semi-last resort, if the other stuff doesn't work, you can also try a repair installation of Windows. Here's a good page that'll explain this in detail.

Please be aware that some harm could come to your linux partiton, if it hasn't already disappeared, if you do a repair installation. I don't know for sure, I really don't deal with Linux very much. Be careful, and good luck, again.

Hi,

I tried both the methods, Recovery and re-setup as in Here's a good page that'll explain this in detail.. Everything works as described in Recovery mode. But When I try to re-boot it shows :
"
EZ-BIOS : Intializing.....
EZ-BIOS : Hold the CTRL key down for Status screen or boot from floppy....
EZ-BIOS : Continuing startup ....

Missing operating system"

I also tried fixboot and fixmbr too....

Looks like I am missing some simple switch ? Can you guys know what going wrong ?

Appreciate all the help & Thanks a lot

Years since I've worked with EZ-BIOS as well. The fact that we were giving you advice without knowing that critical piece of information may have permanently destroyed your data. Or maybe not

Please tell us exactly what you've done. Did you execute a FIXMBR command? Did you make any changes with Partition Magic? Did you make an emergency boot floppy when you installed the drive overlay software?