if you have XP Pro use Jafo's Link...if Home Edition use mine

you might also try to boot up with XP CD and select either repair or use last good startup options

you can also boot up CD and use Command Prompt to bring Taskmanager, hit new task and see if it shows your files. If it does drill down to System Restore

what OS is on it? If it's 2000 or XP insert the Install CD and when prompted to repair or whatever choose recovery console. From there you should be able to dig around and see if the hard disk is even readable.

I recently had someone at work who was getting 'no boot disk' on windows XP. Managed to use the 2K recovery console to write a new MBR and get it up and running. Turned out she had over 400 infected files (three different viruses in there, yaha, loveletter and one other I can't remember). Maybe a similar thing happened on your Dad's PC.

It has XP.

I have managed to access the second partition (thanks for NTFSDOS and READNTFS everyone), but unfortunately that's the one with the OS files on it, not the stuff he actually needs for his work > .

Using READNTFS, it acknowledges the existance of two partitions, but it claims the first one is FAT32, and it says "Error in sector #0 or BOOT sector is invalid"

Which, to me, translates roughly to something along the lines of: "you've got a virus, haha"

I asked dad if he remembered anything wierd happening a within a couple of days of the computer not working, and he said that he got an email that didn't have his email address in the To: CC: or BCC: fields. I'm assuming that there was a virus in the email, and whatever it was has destroyed part of the hard drive.

Ryan it starting to sound like your MBR has been messed up. Have heart this can be fixed. Using the XP cd boot your system and run setup. Setup will ask you if you would like to repair, install etc. chose repair, this will load the XP recovery console. to rewrite the MBR use the following commands. first log on using the administrator user name and password. type fixmbr then hit enter. that should do it then reboot. Its been a while since I have had to do that fix so you may want to look at the MS knowledge base on the recovery console.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307654

oh yeah you also mentioned that there are two partitions. You can reinstall XP on the partition that does not contain the files you need to access. You will be able to access them again after the install.

stick the XP install CD into the CD and boot from it, run recovery console and then type FIXBOOT and FIXMBR

it should rebuild the XP boot area so the drive reads correctly.

yeah what Static said

Static...that's what I said from the beginning...that I'd used the boot disks to fix my friend's root...[his XP 'CD' was on the harddrive]...

yeah some pc makers still put images on drives... it has some major disadvantages... the advantage is unknown to me... if he does not have the xp cd then creating those disks is the only other way... short of a reinstall. If he can avoid floppies

hmmmm... I have 6 floppies right here... they say Windows 3.1 and they have a few coffee stains on then. But my desk does not

Don't trust Microsoft to rescue your system. Go here http://www.knoppix.org

jj....why would he go to a linux site to rescue an XP drive? Did I miss a 'fix boot sector of XP' link somewhere on that page? Just wondering if you're going to start the linux thing again

Knoppix can read NTFS partitions (what XP uses). It can be used to rescue both Windows and Linux systems.

I dumped the MS-DOS floppy I made from XP for Knoppix because the DOS floppy was not able to read my NTFS system.

Also I switched because floppy drives are now considered old technology so I upgraded to a CD-ROM based rescue system.

jj79....XP 'rescue disks' require 6 of them, not one.
They DO work...and they work faultlessly.

The biggest concern with using some alternate OS to read the NTFS system is that there is more than one NTFS format....XP is apparently different to NT4's format.
I'd rather use the 'intended' method than some lateral thinker's option...

And the award for "Diplomatic Use of Language" goes to...

JAFO!!

for the phrase "some lateral thinker's option". Perhaps a bit optimistic, but doubtlessly more civilized than the average first impulse.

Thankyou, baker....like the sign on the Urinal..."We aim to please. Your aim will help"...

Who wants to have to load six floppy disks? Not me.

Oh yeah, Knoppix can read XP's NTFS file system. If you don't believe me, try it out for yourself.

jj you only need the floppies if you don't have an XP CD.

PCs reinstalled with XP don't come with XP's CD, instead they come with System Restore discs that only reinstall the fractory reinstalled software. You can't assume that everyone who has XP has the CD for it.

*factory installed software