PC no work again

[nvening]

I just got some linux disks in the post and decided to dual install.

I first wnet into partition magic and created a new partition and set it to hand le the boot (u can cose what OS to boot so boot.ini is ok)

To complete the new partition the pc needs to restrt so i do so.

On re start all i see is a small line at the top of the screen (command prompt style)

I am now booted into a linux live cd but the windows partition is in NTFS, does this mean i cant get to it ( ithought that most linux xould read NTFS now)? My files are ona seperate partition so if worse comes to worse i can format but i did so not long ago!

I am using an unubtu live cd and have xp home sp2 installed. And im using partition magic 2005.

HELP ME!!!!! thanks

[ikonia]

I think whats happened is.....

you've used the partition magic boot loader program to create a boot loader, and thats gone wrong somewhere (hence why you see the little command prompt thing on boot)

You Ubuntu CD should be able to mount and read the NTFS partitions fine, however I don't see that as a useful option at this moment, as your system is not booting.

I would try to either

a.) boot the partition magic CD again and put the boot sector right, or have a go at putting a new boot sector on

b.) get a dos boot disk and fdisk /mbr to put the old one back

as a side comment, there is no need for the partition magic boot loader to be used as most linux distro's will install lilo or grub to allow you to manage the dual boot situation.

on a second side note, you really don't sound confident in what your doing, you may want to

a.) backup your windows disk ASAP !!!
b.) do a practive basic linux install on another disk/PC
c.) Have a read up on dual booting
d.) take more backups !!!!

Give us more detail if you want more help.

[nvening]

Its all fine now.

What happened was i took the HDD from my old pc and put it in the new one but it didnt load so i took it out. When i pluged the sata disk back in the partition magic thing worked and i booted back into xp lol. its all fine now!

[ikonia]

be careful when installing ubuntu, as it will try to overwrite the partition magic boot loader with lilo or grub

[nvening]

Well, i dont think ill do that now, i have installed it on the old PC