Hi guys, it seems i've got my system into a bit of a pickle

I've been using ubuntu 7.10 (kde3) for some time, I decided to install usbmngr from synaptic so I can open my usb drive easier (or at least find it)

however, during this, i was watching the dialog and i noticed it was installed 11000 packages, kde-base, fspot(image gallery), digikam(image gallery) etc etc

seems strange to need to uninstall these, but I didnt think any more of it as I had only "checked" to install a usb drive manager

Then my applications stopped working

I tried logging out and loggin back in, same

tried rebooting, and when i selected ubuntu from GRUB I get...

Error 15: unable to open file

yet i can boot into XP


Can someone give me the good/bad news on how I can fix this? I have some documents on the ubuntu side which I can't access in windows, and would really like my kubuntu setup restored!

Please help!

My first reaction would be to try a rescue disk (a bootable CD-R) such as SuperGrub to see if that had better luck booting Ubuntu or could repair the problem. http://supergrub.forjamari.linex.org/

I've also used Ext2IFS under XP Pro to access my ext3 drives under Ubuntu. It was easy to install and didn't seem to have any sideffects. You might try that in the interim if you get bogged down trying to solve your booting problem. http://www.fs-driver.org/

I had a similar experience with Dapper, trying to install some little note-taking app for my good lady. On her machine ...
De-installed the desktop, and wouldn't come back.
I sent her around to hers mothers place while I recovered it. I ended up just upgrading the box - clean install of Edgy.
Probably not what you wanted to hear.

I always keep /home on a separate partition, so upgrades are pretty much a no-brainer.
I also took dd images of the (current) environment before I started - just in case. Once onto unallocated space on the installed disk, and once onto an external hard disk. Didn't need them fortunately.

Thanks for the replies guys

Syg00, I took your advice and just did a fresh re-install, luckily I was able to grab any important files via a live cd

In regards to your last response, when creating the partitions i did 1gig for swap, 40 for / and 40 i mounted to /home, I assume that now means that anything under my home directory is safe on a separate partition?

Regards

Safer ...
Handy if you need to re-install. If you use the same user and password, it'll accommodate all your old settings. Generally nothing for you to do to get going.
Note my sigline however.