i tried what you said and this is what came up

My guess is that either

1. the third partition does indeed contain your data but has been corrupted somehow;
   or
2. the third partition was created but not actually formatted --- i.e. there was never an NTFS filesystem on it in the first place, and your data is all on /dev/sda1

If it's the first option, then it may not be possible to rescue your files. ...So let's look at the second option: can you see what's on /dev/sda1? It's mounted automatically on /windows/C. Typing

should give you a list of files. If it does, then probably the easiest option from there is to browse through the mounted volume using a file manager.

If KDE is your desktop environment, then open Konqueror from the panel at the bottom of the screen and look for something like "Storage Media". On the other hand, if you're using GNOME, then choose the "Places" menu at the top of the screen and see if you can find something like "Removable Media" --- clicking on the relevant volume should open up a window in Nautilus.

Once you're into your Windows filespace you can then look around to find the files you want to keep.

Have a go and see where you get...

1 members found this post helpful.

I dont want windows on my computer at all anymore and i dont want the files either can i just delete it all

Certainly! Running fdisk from Linux and removing the two partitions will do it! You can then reuse the space for Linux.

Log in a terminal as root and run

Type p to display the partition table. Then type d to delete a partition: you will be prompted for the partition you want to delete. Choose the third partition /dev/sda3. Then type d again, this time choosing /dev/sda1. If you want to create a new partition, you can do it now, by typing n and specifying what number the partition should be and what size it should be. You can do this a few times, as you've got up to three primary partitions to play with --- /dev/sda1, /dev/sda3 & /dev/sda4. Make sure you don't delete your extended partition (/dev/sda2) unless you want to wipe your disk completely and reinstall Linux with a totally new partition layout.

Once you're done type p again to check that all's as it should be: if it is, then enter w to write the modified partition table to the disk (or if it's wrong, just enter q to quit without writing). The partition table will be used the next time you reboot the machine.

If you want to know all about partitions, take a look at this HOWTO over at the Linux Documentation Project.

Good luck!

1 members found this post helpful.

i did as you said and now my compute wont boot anything i even tried booting from a linux disk i had it didnt work. im using a friends computer. please help

Your / is sda6 that's the partition you'll need to mount. Also change boot priority of cd to boot 1st in bios

1 members found this post helpful.

thanks for trying to help but it doesnt boot at all even off of a cd.

What's message at attempt of boot?

nonr just a black screen with a flashing underscore at the top

Where in the boot process does this happen? Immediately after you tell the machine to boot from the CD, or somewhere else? Describe exactly what you're doing and exactly what happens, please.

i turn on my computer it displays the manufacturer Compaq and then screen goes bland with flashing underscore.

i do the f10 button to access menus and tell it to boot from disk but it doesn't

...Then there's something else going on here: even if the hard drive had been totally wiped, it should not prevent booting from a Linux CD/DVD. There could be a hardware issue underneath all this: can you remember how exactly your Windows partition came to be corrupted? (Was it after a power surge, or did someone spill liquid on the machine, or anything like that?) Installing Linux (or indeed any software) is pointless if the machine has a significant hardware issue, so we must first try to get to the bottom of that before proceeding.

D'you mean that you can you get into the BIOS setup screen with F10 and instruct the machine to boot first from your CD/DVD drive, but that the computer takes no notice of the settings? Or do you mean that you can't even get into the BIOS setup screen?

1. was installing diff version of windows (that was apparently corrupted)

2. its my start up screen, in the middle of it it says "compaq" and at the bottom of it it has a few "f" options then the screen goes blank with the flashing underscore if i dont hit an "f" option quick enough.

3. here is a video of exactly what i mean.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W8gJWtzmkc

When you get into your bios you should have a section for boot sequence or boot order. Make sure the the optical drive is first. Save and exit. You should be able to boot from cd even without a hard drive installed. I have Puppy 4.2.1 on a disk just for checking old computers to see if they are worth messing with. If your Linux install disk fails to boot with optical as first boot device try download a live version. Burn the cd at slowest speed and try it.