well i thank you guys for trying to solve my problem for me. as much as i like linux I'm going to haft to temporarily install windows on my computer. i haven't had windows loaded on my system in 7 months what a sad sad story. this is too bad. i took your advise scott_R and i posted my results below when using gpart. it looks like there is some hope yet. I'm not sure if i should be blaming myself on this one or not. 99% of the problems i have had in the past using linux i have always blamed on my self. but you know what i just don't feel that i was doing anything to cause this problem. i am very paranoid when it comes to formatting and installing operating systems on my computer i always go over everything 3 or 4 times in my head. as much as i hate to say it I'm going to haft to depend on windows to solve my problem right now I'm just not trusting linux enough at this point to go for the fix with gpart or any other GPL software right now. i need something with a GUI with a help menu. yes yes i know if you cant use the command line in linux your a brain dead monkey
I SURE DONT WANT TO FUCK THIS ONE UP
so Alf829 I'm taking your advise about using windows instead. thanks
just so you know how appreciative i am, I'm going to say it 1 more time thanks
[root@localhost gpart-0.1h]# /home/joe/gpart-0.1h/bin/gpart -E /dev/hdg
Begin scan...
Possible partition(Linux ext2), size(203mb), offset(0mb)
Possible partition(Linux ext2), size(10762mb), offset(203mb)
Possible partition(Linux swap), size(1027mb), offset(10966mb)
Possible partition(DOS FAT), size(16998mb), offset(11993mb)
Possible partition(DOS FAT), size(10205mb), offset(28992mb)
* Warning: short read near sector(80293059), 64512 bytes instead of 66048. Skipping...
End scan.
Checking partitions...
* Warning: more than 4 primary partitions: 5.
Partition(Linux ext2 filesystem): primary
Partition(Linux ext2 filesystem): primary
Partition(Linux swap or Solaris/x86): primary
Partition(DOS or Windows 95 with 32 bit FAT): primary
Partition(DOS or Windows 95 with 32 bit FAT): invalid primary
Ok.
Guessed primary partition table:
Primary partition(1)
type: 131(0x83)(Linux ext2 filesystem)
size: 203mb #s(417626) s(63-417688)
chs: (0/1/1)-(414/5/62)d (0/1/1)-(414/5/62)r
Primary partition(2)
type: 131(0x83)(Linux ext2 filesystem)
size: 10762mb #s(22041112) s(417753-22458864)
chs: (414/7/1)-(1023/15/63)d (414/7/1)-(22280/9/58)r
Primary partition(3)
type: 130(0x82)(Linux swap or Solaris/x86)
size: 1027mb #s(2104448) s(22458933-24563380)
chs: (1023/15/63)-(1023/15/63)d (22280/11/1)-(24368/6/59)r
Primary partition(4)
type: 011(0x0B)(DOS or Windows 95 with 32 bit FAT)
size: 16998mb #s(34812855) s(24563385-59376239)
chs: (1023/15/63)-(1023/15/63)d (24368/7/1)-(58904/15/63)r
[root@localhost gpart-0.1h]#