After running some registry cleaning software my system won't reboot. I figure the software hosed the registry, but now I'm not sure. If I boot to DOS from Win98 CD I can cd/dir folders fine. Win2K rescue console gives "directory enumeration error." Re-installing Win2K says "drive not formatted." I pulled the drive and put it in a firewire case and my WinXP says "not formatted" But the Easeus data recovery tool (in demo mode) can read the structure fine. The partition is FAT32. There is a 2nd logical drive on the drive and all can read that fine. I am at a loss and any help appreciated.

Before trying anything else, try hitting F8 when the boot menu appears, and select "Last Known Good Configuration" - just a shot in the dark, but maybe W2K will use a backup entry for your C partition.

Try running

CHKDSK /p

from the recovery console to force a full structural check on the system partition.

It could well be worth running fixboot to rewrite the system partition boot sector.

I suspect your cleaner has removed a partition ID (logical drive) entry, and W2K thinks the partition is U/S.

Registry cleaners should all have a Government Health Warning on a splash screen. You may pay a high price for cleaning a few K off your registry size. You don't need 'em - orphaned entries (like unused DLLs in the System32 folder) aren't going to confuse ANYTHING - they'll be ignored.

um I don't think there is a /p for chkdsk. do a chkdsk /? for the available switches.

But since you can't run chkdsk on a unformatted disk this is a moot point.

I think your best bet is one of the undelete/restore files utilities. Web search for them.

Give a person a fish you feed them for a day.
Ask a person to internet search and they learn a skill for a lifetime.

When you boot normally, at what point does the boot process stop? Does the BIOS see the drive?

Wanderer - you're right about the /p switch, it's for XP only. However, his disk can't be unformatted, as he can see the folders from DOS, and the data recovery tool sees the disk structure OK.

The BIOS must be able to see the physical drive or neither DOS nor the recovery tool could see it.

I repeat - it's worth trying fixboot from the RC to repair the partition boot sector. It may be that DOS and the recovery tool aren't bothered by an error in it but W2K/XP are.

type chkdsk /p on your xp box. I get invalid switch message.

If the files and folders can be seen by the recovery tool we know the bios/drive is just fine.

Pay the money for Easeus fwaltman and recover your files. Might want to get a dvd burner for backup :-)

Give a person a fish, they eat for a day. Suggest they internet search and they learn a skill for a lifetime.