Hello,
here is my system description:
Operating System: Linux 2.4.22-10mdk (Mandrake 9.2)
System Uptime: 17:37:08 up 6:04 1 user
Average Load: 0.04 0.16 0.24 (average over last 1min, 5min & 15min)
CPU Type: Celeron (Mendocino) (x86)
CPU Addressability: 32bit
CPU Count: 1
CPU Clock: 434 MHz
CPU Cache: 128 KB (L2)
Physical Memory: 313 MB
Swap Space: 0 MB
IDE Disk: /dev/hda (QUANTUM FIREBALL EX6.4A)
IDE CD-ROM: /dev/hdc (LG DVD-ROM DRD-840B)
SCSI Disk 0,0,0: /dev/sda (Maxtor 6 Y120L0)

The problem is that the SCSI (it is in fact a USB external IDE drive) does
not mount although I get this from dmesg:
-----------------
root@aprilia root]# mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt/addusb

root@aprilia root]# dmesg
usb.c: USB disconnect on device 00:07.2-1 address 2
hub.c: new USB device 00:07.2-1, assigned address 3
WARNING: USB Mass Storage data integrity not assured
USB Mass Storage device found at 3
FAT: bogus logical sector size 0
VFS: Can't find a valid FAT filesystem on dev 08:01.
-----------------
The standard internal IDE is quite limited and I use the
MAXTOR also to back up an XP system, but it has become unusable
from that system too (since MDK tried to format the 2nd partition).

[root@aprilia root]# df -k
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/ide/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/part5
3698180 2633560 876756 76% /
/dev/ide/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/part1
2535156 1963204 571952 78% /mnt/windows

====After looking at some posts I thought I should include this======
[root@aprilia root]# fdisk -l /dev/sda

Disk /dev/sda: 122.9 GB, 122942325248 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14946 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 8175 65665656 6 FAT16
/dev/sda2 8176 14549 51199155 5 Extended
/dev/sda3 14550 14946 3188902+ 6 FAT16
/dev/sda5 8176 14549 51199123+ 83 Linux

I was worried about the FAT16 as the drive was used with WinXP as
NTFS (oh dear). Why is there an asterisk against sda1 ?
Why does it not return the devfs references such as
/dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/part1 * 1 8175 65665656 6 FAT16
----
Comparing it to the internal IDE drive
----
Disk /dev/ide/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/disc: 6448 MB, 6448619520 bytes
240 heads, 63 sectors/track, 833 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 15120 * 512 = 7741440 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/ide/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/part1 * 1 336 2540128+ b Win95 FAT32
/dev/ide/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/part2 337 833 3757320 5 Extended
/dev/ide/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/part5 337 833 3757288+ 83 Linux

What tools can I use to repair this disk from Linux?
Have I lost all the data on the Windows partiton?
Does the windows partition still exist?

Many thanks for any help,
Dr. Skids