if i cannot use a that, and if i make a new partition and install the OS on that, will i still be able to access my files? and how come when i have my slave drive connected, i cant use any programs off it when it was previously installed on the slave?
Here's what i'd do to attempt a correction of the problem drive,however before i continue i need to know the partition layout of the harddisk & sizes,when viewed from computer management or from PM (PM = partition magic) 1-Because of corruption i have no way of knowing if any partitions can be created if the tables are mucked up,this means PM will not let you make or create partitions,so if partition D is before partition C,can you create a data partition of say 3GB after Partition C,there's a button on PM's left column that lets you create a data partition,you can do this from either the good hdd with the installed version of PM, or better still set the faulty drive as master & leave the PM disk in the drive & do a live boot from CD,to create a partition in DOS,which would be a better way & less chance of loss of data. 2-if the above is a success,this is what i'm aiming for,if there is no partiton D after C,create a large enough partition to incorporate any music files,emails etc that you want to keep,this essentially means you can have two choices,do a non destructive repair of C which leaves data files intact (the idea behind a created data partition after C is if the repair goes wrong you'll still have access to the data you want this includes a reformat but only reformatting partiton C,loosing the data after a reformat of C won't matter since the files are store on another partition) 3-If poss transfer as much data like music,emails to the partition C of your good drive before commencing operations. 4-Main question, after transferring as much of the wanted data to the good drive,how much more space do you require for music files,emails,photo's etc,forget about attempting to save installed software 5-However if all your attempting to do is save is installed software like nero or anydvd etc & not music files or photo's,don't waste time just either do a repair or reformatt with the xp disk EDIT: By not using the "apply changes" button then nothing will happen & no changes will be made comp will be as before you attempted anything
