Help!!!!

[jmtertz]

First off let me just say what an awesome site. This is exactly what I have been looking for. I'm a 24 year old who works on a call center. I deal with computers everyday and have knowledge all of the basic knowledge down pat. I am trying to learn a little more about DOS and programming. But right now my problem is lost files. GREAT ARTCILE, but something is not working in my favor. When I run findntfs 1 1 1 1 c:recoverlog.txt I get an error saying could not locate c:ecoverlog.txt. I even tried saving a blank txt file with this name in the c drive, but that didn’t work either. I am running WIN XP Home SP1. Computer is a Compaq Pesario 5000. I don't know if its the boot disk or what...It seems the problem is the boot disk is for FAT files while I am trying to search for NTFS. Is there a wayt I can boot to DOS with XP? Are tehre any other options??? Recovery software costs too much, as I am a student in college with a limited budget....I have been working on this problem for sometime know, and need help....Let me know if you need anymore info. Thanks for the help and keep up the great work on the site. I am sure I will be visiting here frequently.

[Avid6eek]

jmtertz....Welcome to PCStats!

I'm am totally horrible with DOS (GUI all the way!) so I don't know if I can offer much assitance. I can give you two bits of information you are looking for...

1.) The "FindNTFS" command will not work if you are looking for information on a drive with a FAT files system.

2.) There is no set way to boot to an MS-DOS prompt in Windows XP. If you want to start at a command prompt, you are going to have to download a bootdisk (bootdisk.com (http://bootdisk.com)) and give that a try.

It appears that you are going to have to purchase some data recovery software if you want your file back. It really sucks, but this stresses the importance of backing up your data. Also, next time you reformat your system, format with the NTFS file system :)

[jmtertz]

I am trying to search for NTFS, but the boot disk is set up for FAT I think......what type of boot disk do I need to utilize findntfs for XP?????????????