So a friends computer basically crashed. As soon as you would start it up it would go into the fatal error blue screen and require a restart.

I used the linux program knoppix to get the files I needed off the hard drive and onto an external hard drive. Before I used knoppix I could put in my XP CD and have an option to re-partition my hard drive, perfect. I got the files off thinking I could simply come back to the screen.

After I got all the files off using knoppix, I went to put the XP disc back in - and now its saying at the exact same function where I could re-partition the hard drive, that a hard disk can't be found. Just to make sure the hard disk was ok, I put knoopix back in and opened all sorts of files and navigated around it - proving the hard drive was functional.

How can I simply get the XP disc to recongize the hard drive before the linux program was ran. Knoppix does sort of "uninstall" itself and I've made sure it went through the whole uninstall process. I think knoopix changed something up. Any suggestions?

3/24/2009 10:28:40 PM

Do you have the utility disks that came with computer? If so, you might want to run a utility diagnostic on the HD to make sure it doesnt have a bad sector or something of that nature.

3/25/2009 2:25:45 PM

i really don't get wtf you did

can you get into windows setup from a windows CD?

if so, format the whole thing. you might also have to get to a dos command prompt and do a fdisk /mbr to reset the master boot record at worst but i can't see it taking much more than that

3/25/2009 5:47:31 PM

finally fixed the problem - my after market XP disc wasn't recognizing the SATA drive.....had to download drivers to make it work

3/26/2009 6:09:24 PM