The fstab file looks like this (I am typing it since I do not have the means of either saving it in Linux and retrieving it in Windows, or accesing the web via linux. ....I know, things do not look so good!!!! )

/dev/hda7 / reiserfs ac1,user_xattr 1 1
/dev/hda1 /windows/C ntfs ro,users,gid=users,umask=0002,nls=utf8 0 0
/dev/sda1 /windows/D vfat rw,users,gid=users,umask=0002,iocharset=utf8 0 0
/dev/hda5 /windows/E ntfs ro,users,gid=users,umask=0002,nls=utf8 0 0
/dev/hda6 swap swap pri=42 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0620,gid=5 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs noauto 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs noauto 0 0
/dev/sdb4 /media/zip auto noauto,user 0 0
/dev/cdrom /media/cdrom subfs
fs=cdfss,ro,procuid,nusuid,nodev,exec,iocharset=utf8 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy subfs fs=floppyfss,procuid,nodev,nosuid,sync 0 0
/dev/hda1/mnt/win_c ntfs users,owner,ro,umask=000 0 0
/dev/sda1/mnt/win_s vfat users,owner,rw,umask=000 0 0
/dev/hda5/mnt/win_d ntfs users,owner,ro,umask=000 0 0


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The last three lines are my additions following instructions from the web. Obviously, i have created the directories win_c, win_s and win-d in the mount directory.

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The boot log is quite large to transcribe it. However, the following messages are relevant to the problem:

linux kernel: NTFS-fs-error (device hda5):read_ntfs_boot_sector(): primary boot sector is invalid
linux kernel: NTFS-fs-error (device hda5):read_ntfs_boot_sector(): mount option errors=recover not used. Aborting without trying to recover
linux kernel: NTFS-fs-error (device hda5):ntfs_fill_super():Not and NTFS volume
linux kernel: NTFS-fs-error (device hda5):read_ntfs_boot_sector. primary boot sector is invalid

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I see I have a problem with hda5, though i do not know what it is.
I do not see any messages regarding problems with sda1 (a vfat); however, i cannot mount it either manually or via the fstab file ("mount: mount point vfat does not exist") ????????????????In the old computer (see the beguining of the thread) this disk (a removable 30GB USB HD works well and I can access it via linux)?????????????????????

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In addition, (i) The wireless system ( Lynksys wireless USB network adapter connecting into a router) does not work, and (ii) there is no sound when playing music via CD or DVD. There is sound when playing games. I have not yer tried MP3 files because i can not access them. However, my main concern so far has been the mounting of the disks and the probelsm with the NTFS that may have been corrupted during the partition 9Windows does not recognizes it).

Hmm. for starters, I recommend removing those last few lines. Those partitions are already referred to on the first lines. If you want to change the mount points, then you should edit those lines.

The fstab has a number of things on each line. The first column is the device name. These will almost always start with /dev/ . Your primary master hard drive is /dev/hda . The number tacked onto the end is the partition (hda5 and up are logical volumes inside the extended partition). /dev/sda is the first scsi device in your system. USB hard drives are usually treated as scsi.

The second column is where you want to mount it. In your file you didn't put a space or tab between the two. The reason that it is telling you that the mount point doesn't exist, is because it sees "vfat" as the second column. The partition type should be the third column.

Personally, I would just use the /Windows/C (etc.) that are provided. If you want to use /mnt/win_c instead, then you need to edit those first few lines. I'm still assuming that that ntfs partition got ruined, but it may not have been. What does the disk manager say (in windows, as per my previous post)?

Oh, by the way: The forth colum is a list of options. If I were you, I'd add "sync" to the list for your removable drive (the /dev/sda1 line). When a program tells the OS to write to a drive and the system is busy with other things, it will sometimes pretend like it has. You can write to a file, read it back, and notice that the changes have been made while the file has never acctually hit the disk yet. I think the kernel is supposed to be smart enough to not do that on removeable media, but I wouldn't trust it to. Adding sync to the options list will tell the kernel that it can't do that. (typeing "sync" at the command line will tell linux to "syncronize" the disks with the cache in memory)

In Windows, double clicking on D; generates a prompt ""Disk drive D is not formatted. Do you want to formatt it now?'. selcting properties shows: File System: RAW, Capacity 0 bytes. Check or Defragment do not run on it.

Have found a thread with the name "Windows no longer boots folllowing the installation of SUSE LINUX 9.1 (http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...suse+linux+9.1), and a solution that requires downloading a patch from the Suse site. It suggests that this problem happens because YaST wrote and incorrect partition table and thus "BIOS and Linux see different disk geometries and the windows partition is larger than about 8GB"
I suppose that SUSE LINUX 9.2 would have this problem resolved. However, I am willing to try since it may be the last resort.

I found out that the instructions posted for SUSE LINUX 9.1 do not work for SUSE LINUX 9.2. However 9.2 has a repair utility that verifies and attempts the repair of a number of problems. The diagnostic was that the partition hda5 is there but unaccessible because of an unknown format (RAW according to Windows). The suggestion was to removed (and loose all my data!). I think the disk is tosted (I am toasted). Anyhow, I will take the computer to the experts tomorrow to see if they can savage my data. Then I will start again. Thanks for all the help.

Different "professionals" have different methods of billing customers. Talk to them first. Unless they have dealt with resized NTFS partitions in the past, or have some expensive NTFS diagnosing program, I would not comit to paying them anything. If they are willing to have a look for free or for cheap, then maybe.

Just make sure they know exactly what happened.

"Linux 9.2 runs very slow on 233MHz PC"

No, really? I can't imagine why...

On a side note, you think maybe WinXP might run just as slow seeing as the requirements want a 300Mhz Minimum? And that was only the first version of XP...

How long ago did that come out, and how many versions of Suse have come out since...

A final note for anyone following this thread.
Thanks gd2shoe for all your help. I appreciated.
I took the computer to a shop to recover my data (it took 2 days and $70). However, after data recovery, I still had the problem of a corrupt windows partition. I deleted Linux but did not restore the MBR prior to doing it. Thus, for a while I could not start the computer past GRUB. It took me about two weeks to find information on various issues: (i) learn how to log-in using GRUB commands (chainloader (hd0,0)+1; boot) , extend the windows partition to incorporate the previously Linux formatted partition and be able to re-formatt as a NTFS windows partition, (iii) rebuild the MBR, and (iv) finally be back to where I was prior to loading SUSE 9.2.
I have no complaints. I actually learnt quite a bit, and realized that my initial ignorance compounded the problems. I also found out that several Newbies had similar problems and following these threads I resolve them.
Rebuilding the MBR turned out to be the simplest problem to fix. However, it took me the longest. I tried booting using the original Windows XP CD, it required an administrator password, but did not accepted the one I had set up as an administrator password (?). I also tried using an old Windows 98 CD, but did not realize I was using the disk supplied with a pre-installed system. Obviously it did not work. When I finally got an old but original Windows 98 disk, it took me two minutes (using fdisk /mbr) to be up and running.

I had now added a separate hard drive in the computer, to physically separate Windows from Linux. I partitioned the new disk with Partition Magic, to separate the required space for Linux (40 GB ), and kept the remaining of the disk as windows FAT –32, to be able to share data between systems. Running YAST I specified the installation to be mounted in the pre-defined partition (previously I let YAST decide how to partition my hard disk – this obviously did not work well for me).

I am up and running now. All partitions are available from Linux (NTFS partitions are read only, FAT-32 partitions are read and write).

I have a couple of hiccups with network settings (cannot make the wireless Linksys port work) and the CD player has no sound, but these will be subjects of a separate thread.

Thanks again gd2shoe for following up.

And thank you for posting your results. There aren't enough people here that do that. Some people have a problem and get a few replies. Then, they completely vanish. A few of them just realize that their original question was dumb. Most of them either never get the problem under control, or aren't polite enough to help everyone else learn and grow.

Always post your solutions (when you have them). Thank you. I'll see you around!

For your 233Mhz PC you may want to try Damn Small Linux. Although it is a live CD it can be installed on your hard drive..