I'm not sure but I'm to believe the command fixboot from a recovery console does in fact try to repair the boot record. I could be wrong?

I had to do this with a drive that had a corrupt boot loader. When running fixboot it said something to the fact of "searing for a good boot record" Well It found one and it choose the wrong one. I now have a fat32 instead of a ntfs and my files are obviously gone.

I see the ntfs record with norton utilities ( partition table info ) but I cant for the life of me imagine how I could use the ntfs boot loader that was on that at one point. I could reinstall windows but I want that data.

I'm trying to use restor2000 a program I have used before but during the search its saying " read disk f: at position ( number )_ failed after 10 attempts..." So I dont think its going to allow me access to the files this time around.

two question.

1) does anyone know of a way to fix the boot record?

2) Does anyone think I have a change at getting my data?

thx..

So it turns out it didnt find an old fat32, it for what ever reason says fat12. Is that not for floppy drives?

Sorry for the double post the edit feature was not showing up.

Ok, 'Partition Table Doctor' did the trick, It reported the boot recorder needed fixing and sure enough it was messed up. Working now.. Never mind.. I guess I just panicked.

Ok, why did you post a question on a forum this advanced...

1. ... this simple?
2. ... without trying everything you could think of first?
3. ... if you didn't even bother looking up basic information about your findings as you went?
4. ... if you're stupid enough to use a Symantec Norton program?

I am definitely pro-DIY, but when you post a question, then post your own answer 1 hour 48 minutes later, then your own final conclusion 58 minutes later, for a total span of 2 hours 46 minutes, you didn't try hard enough on your own. If you want to solve problems yourself, investigate them yourself before asking for help. Your first reaction should not be to ask for help, it should be to find what information you can.

Incidentally, you could have just left your location blank rather than just banging your keyboard.