Maximum PC

I have an unusual problem with my hard drive, a 1t western digital that I have (had) running Windows XP pro. The state that it is in took a while to get to. Without going into all of the ugly details as to HOW it got there, here is what's going on. I can't boot into WinXP. During the boot sequesnce, there will be a list of devices displayed just before the Win XP splash screen. The system will freeze right after the list of devices and before displaying the splash screen. The OS is not loading.
1. If I boot from my install disk and try to do a repair install, the os is not found. I do not get the message asking if I want to repair a current installation. Exit out of that fast. I do not want to do a new install or format the drive...yet. I have a new 2t drive on order, hoping to get it in a few days.

2. I can boot from Live linux cd's (using Knoppix now) and UBCD and Hiren's boot CD and can see all of my files and directories. I can view pictures and videos from the hard drive, I can read documents, etc. the data is there.

3. in the C;\ directory, ntldr, io.sys and msdos.sys are all 0 byte files. Not sure if the file structure for these 3 files are corrupt or they really have a byte length of 0. I am 99% sure this is my problem.

Before doing anything else with this drive my plan is to:
1. backup the entire drive onto the new drive that is on the way. That way I will have a copy of all of my files before messing with the first drive any further.

2. Mess around with the various utilities on the linus rescue cd/boot cd's to try any revive the drive intact. I don't give much hope for resurrection on this!

3. Re-partion and reformat the drive (which should be done first?) and then reinstall XP.

4,. QUESTION: I know that I will have to reinstall my programs. Do I need to reinstall the programs first or restore my backup first and then reinstall programs? What about dll's that get copied from my backup to the fresh install? Will I be asked if I want to overwrite what is there already?

5. If I want to install Win7, should I do that instead of XP or after XP? I understatnd that XP cannot be upgraded to W& without reinstalling programs. What If I installed XP, then VIsta then 7? Will everything migrate properly if I do not add or run anything in between upgrades?

6. I have come across a number of programs that say they copy files/drives/sectors/partions/images etc from 1 drive to another. Not sure what type of copy I should do.

Any advice would be great! Thanks!
Greg

What version of Windows XP do you have? Pro or Home? Also, what Service Pack did Windows XP come with on your installation disk? Is it the same as the service pack that is on the hard drive? As for installing Windows 7 on the hard drive, if you have an upgrade version of Windows 7, just install that. The first time, boot from the installation disk, and select "Custom" for the type of install. When you are prompted for the Product Key, do not put that information in, just let Windows 7 install itself on the hard drive. After it completes the initial installation, run the installation CD from within Windows and, this time, choose "Upgrade". When prompted for the Product Key this time, type it in, then let it upgrade your Windows 7 installation.

OK, attempting a repair installation of the OS on your original hard drive is not an option at this point as the Windows XP installation CD is unable to find a previously installed version of the OS on it. Your only option (unless you or a friend have another Windows XP SP3 computer to slave the old drive to--to allow it to run a checkdisk on it and repair the file system on the drive) for backing up your data is to use the Knoppix Live! CD to do so to your new hard drive (or some USB flash drives, if you have them), then you can repartition and reformat the old drive to your heart's content. If you want to continue using Windows XP, you will need to repartition the drive first, then reformat the first partition and install Windows XP on it. Once that is done, you can format the other partition(s) later from within the OS.
As for your questions concerning the installation of Windows 7, the answer is "yes" to using the Windows 7 upgrade CD during both the "Custom" install and the "Upgrade" install processes. If you have a full version CD of Windows 7, simply run the CD and choose "Custom" for the type of installation and enter its Product Key when prompted and you will be good to go. No need to install Windows XP SP3 or Windows Vista first, regardless of which Windows 7 installation CD (full versison or upgrade version) you happen to have. I hope this helps.
As for restoring your backup data and reinstalling your programs, I would just reinstall your programs first, then restore your backed up data to the drive. You shouldn't need to worry about overwriting any .dlls, IMHO.

Before using that drive to run windows again, I would go to the WD site and get their diagnostic software and run both the 90 second test and the long test to see if that drive is failing. If it is, get all the data you can off it now, burn to dvds if you have to, that way you have a permanent repository of your data for future use.

Nasty

PCstudent- I think I'll go straight to Win7. I'm most concerned about getting Thunderbird e-mail back into the correct location along with my Forte Freeagent database. Those 2 I def do not want to start over again.

Nasty- Thank you. I have run the WD extended dianostics and everything reports back ok.

Any problems with creating 2 partions on the new drive, one for data recovery and one from a fresh Win7 install, reformat the old drive then move the Win7 instal back to the old drive ?

Sounds like a plan. What program or programs are you looking at using to copy over your Windows 7 installation?

How to partition the Drive during win 7 install:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/52 ... stall.html

Nasty