Ok sad things first...i lost my comp... I tried to PARTITION my Hard drive (ntfs) through partition magic. So the computer restarted and did the partition thing and half way through, some error came, and then my computer restarted and goes bak to a screen for safe mode, last known good configuration and so on.. I TRIED EVERY one of them but NONE of them WORK..THE COMP just kept restarting and restarting..and restarting.. So i tried to reinstall WinXP. This time, i dint format, i installed an additional Copy and then the comp restarted and didnt even go to any screen..it just kept on restarting...so finally i did the painful thing of FORMATTING...and even after that it didn't work. I was trying to put another harddrive in my comp before DOING anything but i had no slots availabe..yea (cheap mobo..i guess)...BUT now i'm stuck like CHUCK...any ideas?? you think my harddrive is useless now??? will a new harddrive work??>..aaaaahhhhhhhhh 80GB hardrive..i lost 60 GB worth of stufff..sheeesh..this sucks...Please help.. John

go to the manufacturers web site and get their diagnostic tools. I had a neighbour with a bad disk and this was the only way we could be sure it was dead.

but how am i gonna run the diagnostic tool if comp wont start uP?

the one we had copied to floppy, then you booted from the floppy and it did its funky thing. Unfortunately it just said you disks dead, but there were repair options also. You might loose all data but at least get your disk back. Good luck

The diagnostic tool will probably be put on a floppy disk and inserted into the floppy drive before boot up. Then when you start the pc the floppy will load by it's self and show a diagnostics tool screen. That you don't have a functional operating system or a hard drive installed won't matter. You could however try using the Win XP CD and doing a fresh and clean install, which should erase any data that may be on the hard drive. Hope this helps

Hmm...I havent tried the diagnostic stuff yet But i have tried REinstalling WinXp...IT FORMATTED THE WHOLE DISk BUT it kept on restartin..and restartin..and restarting....

Perhaps one of the following will help: Boot with a '98 boot-disk; run the delpart.exe util and delete any/all paritions present. Then reconfigure/format drive afresh via '98 Fdisk/format utils; format as fat32 initially - you can reformat as ntfs during XP setup if so wished. You can also use '98 Fdisk to remove any/all partitions; then reconfigure etc as above. Then install XP (CD boot or the 6 floppies). Another option: run a mid-level-format (MLF) and reset drive to as close as factory gate status as is (user) possible. Then use Fdisk/format and reconfigure etc as above. An MLF util is (should be) available at the web-site for the drive you have; do not use one from another maker's site. It may be incorrectly called a low-evel-format (LLF). A true LLF is not the same as an MLF. A true LLF will probably wreck a modern drive (render it useless...); but a MLF will/should just reset it as described above. delpart is around at various places: http://hercules.lss.ksu.edu/download/MSSTUFF/index.htm http://www.mesich.com are just two. download to a hard-drive; save to a floppy and use that floppy at the a:>\ prompt; or add to a '98 boot-disk and save a floppy change. Just run the util and follow on-screen prompts. Also - so as to perhaps preserve data in the future... partition drive to have Primary (OS/apps/utils) AND Extended - for data only. You can also subdivide Extended into two or more logical-drives - better data organisation/easier defrags etc. Data (in Extended) will/should be safe in event of a crash of OS etc. in Primary. Primary can even be reformatted without affecting contents of Extended partition (unless one is really careless - or unlucky?). Fdisk tutorial: http://www.compguystechweb.com/index.html http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q255/8/67.ASP