<markh1289@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1136457536.826462.8580@g14g2000cwa.googlegrou ps.com...
> Hi,
>
> I did a dumb thnig (no, a VERY dumb thing).
> I'd just like to confirm it was an irreversably stupid thing, but if
> there's any way of me recovery I'd love to hear it.
>
> I booted Knoppix (in the form of Auditor Security Collection) from CD
> in IBM T43.
> Then,
> mkdosfs -F 32 /dev/sda1
>
> thinking this was a USB flash drive.
> I mounted it as type vfat, created a directory & wrote a small text
> file to it all off which worked.
>
> Turns out /dev/sda1 is WinXP partition of the HD, hence when CD is
> removed & laptop booted, C: is no longer bootable.
>
> The C: drive has 2 partitions, /dev/sd1 mentioned above & /dev/sda2
> which I think is where the IBM Recovery data is for getting laptop back
> to factory default.
>
> Is there any way to correct this so WinXP will boot?
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
> Regards, MH

What does mkdosfs do?
How far does the WinXP boot process go?
What error messages (if any) do you see?