Can't boot into my Win XP! (Long read, get comfy)

[low-standards]

Oh man. First let me tell you my problem for those who don't have to read this whole post and already know what is wrong.

I have Win XP Home on drive "D"
I have a drive "C" that is already formatted
I cannot get into Win XP even with first boot drive set to "D"

Now for the looooong story of how I got to my problem:
Last night I went to install my newly bought Win XP Home full version. I chose the advanced install and to install all files from the CD. So when windows setup rebooted and continued the install progress it asked me which drive to install to. I chose to install on drive "C" (the largest) but setup told me it couldn't as Win 98 is on there and 2 OS on same drive is a no-no. It also told me it can't do so as there are temp files needed for setup on there. (So what is the point of loading from the CD?) So fine, I then instructed setup to go ahead and convert drive "D" to NTFS and install there on "D". Heck I'll go ahead and format and convert "C" later on. All went well. XP rocks. Anyway, now when I turn on my computer I get a prompt that reads:

Windows XP Home
Windows

So I choose XP of course but now it came time to format "C" so that I can use it. So I booted to DOS and formatted "C" and now when I start the computer I get the prompt:

Invalid system disk.

Doh. So I then, went to bios and changed boot drive to "D" (this is where XP is anyway). So I reboot and get the prompt:

Cannot locate NTLDR
Press CTRL-ALT-Del to Restart

What the hell? Looks like drive "D" relied on drive "C" even though I haven't installed ANY programs since the XP install. The drives are completely independant!! So 1.5 hours of work for nothing.


Is there anyway I can get into my XP drive "D." Will Recovery Console from the XP CD-rom repair the problem? Can I install XP from Dos? I ask all of this as I have no internet yet and need to know when I get home today. Thanks in advance for ANY advice

[dduckworth]

Unfortunately, the C: drive you formatted had the NT boot files on it. The C: drive contained boot info for both 98 and XP. It's possible to repair this, check out MS Technet or such, or maybe just reinstall (much easier).

[Mr_CPU]

Windows XP Pro, that I use, has the ability to repair the boot area...however...I tried it two days ago unsuccessfully. I wanted to dual boot to ME. I had installed ME after XP. You really need to do it first. That's beside the point. I don't know if the Home Edition gives you that option or not. If it does, when you get to the point where it asks you if you want to install fresh or repair, hit R for repair. Then go to HELP for the options you have. They are in aphabetical order. The choose...BOOTCFG...I beleive it is and it will give you more options. Try that. I couldn't make it work so I did a reinstall over the previous one and it reworked the bootsector...all is now fine. I just hope that you didn't erase your install by accident...in case there was anything on it of value.

good luck. I hope this coherent enough for you to understand. I am not the best at communicating...sorry.

[low-standards]

you gave me hope. thanks a million you two!! have a great weekend