Something really bad happened to my C: partition

[DannySwazz]

Okay, I use Windows XP and I turned the computer off without shutting down. Big mistake I guess, the next day it gave me the error UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME. I follow instructions from another site, went into the Windows XP repair console and ran chkdsk /p and fixboot. Didn't help.

All the other partitions are fine so I know it's nothing wrong with the harddrive itself. Apparently the C: partition is wrongly reporting itself as FAT when it is in fact NTFS. It is a 26GB size and all the data is completely wrongly reported.

Please can someone help me get out of this mess?

 

[Jeff7]

chkdsk /r maybe? - standard file system check and surface scan.
I don't know if this could be destructive though.

 

[rwalterk]

Danny:

Worst case you can always do a repair installation of Windows XP, after which you will have to reinstall most of the applications you have but the data will still be there (I've done this before). Here's the steps:

1. Boot from Windows XP CD.
2. DO NOT select "Repair" from the first menu where it shows up. Select "Install" and on the next menu it will have a "Repair" option.
3. It will completely reinstall Windows XP without wiping out your hard drive.

Like I mentioned earlier, you will have to reinstall your apps, but at least it won't wipe out any of your data. Hopefully it won't get to this point but in case it does it's a life saver.

Ray

 

[DannySwazz]

I'm afraid that doesn't begin to access my problem. The partition is reported completely wrong, as a FAT partition when it is NTFS. I don't know how to get it to know that it is NTFS, I feel that will solve the problem.

 

[jfunk]

Try partition magic.


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