what should i do with this partition error message?

[neverlose]

hi all,

here is my pc's specs:
pentium III 450mhz pc.
350mb ram
32mb vga
40gb maxtor harddisk
1 cd-rw
1 dvd-rw
1 floppy drive

at first, i partition the harddisk into 2 20gb ntfs partitions, and make it drive C and D. drive C is for windows xp and D for data. a few month ago, i decided to try linux. so i install linux and create 4gb partition for ext2 and 256mb for swap. the installation done successfully and i can select OS to use thru grub. a few weeks ago, i decided to remove linux. without hesitation, i delete linux partition thru windows disk manager. windows gave me error message that unfortunately i cant remember and immediately my pc stop responding. i restart pc, no more grub, just windows logo and after a while, it restarted.

now, i use knoppix to check my partition.

first i use command knoppix@0[knoppix]$ sudo fdisk /dev/hda
and below is the result:

The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 79656.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
(e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)
Warning: extra link pointer in partition table 5
omitting empty partition (7)

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/hda: 41.1 GB, 41110142976 bytes
16 heads, 63 sectors/track, 79656 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 1008 * 512 = 516096 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 30489 15366141 7 HPFS/NTFS
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/hda2 30489 40147 4867695 7 HPFS/NTFS
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/hda3 40147 79640 19904535 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
Partition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/hda4 1259073 3196119 976271391 73 Unknown
Partition 4 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/hda5 40641 79640 19655527+ 5 Extended
/dev/hda6 ? 1259073 3196119 976271391 73 Unknown


then i use this command, knoppix@0[knoppix]$ sudo gpart /dev/hda
and below is the result:

** Error: invalid extended ptbl found at sector(40467735).

Begin scan...
Possible partition(Windows NT/W2K FS), size(15005mb), offset(0mb)
Possible partition(Linux ext2), size(4753mb), offset(15006mb)
Possible partition(Linux swap), size(243mb), offset(19759mb)
Possible partition(Windows NT/W2K FS), size(19194mb), offset(20002mb)

* Warning: short read near sector(80293059), 64512 bytes instead of 66048. Skipping...
End scan.

Checking partitions...
Partition(OS/2 HPFS, NTFS, QNX or Advanced UNIX): primary
Partition(Linux ext2 filesystem): primary
Partition(Linux swap or Solaris/x86): primary
Partition(OS/2 HPFS, NTFS, QNX or Advanced UNIX): primary
Ok.

Guessed primary partition table:
Primary partition(1)
type: 007(0x07)(OS/2 HPFS, NTFS, QNX or Advanced UNIX)
size: 15005mb #s(30732280) s(63-30732342)
chs: (0/1/1)-(1023/15/63)d (0/1/1)-(30488/6/61)r

Primary partition(2)
type: 131(0x83)(Linux ext2 filesystem)
size: 4753mb #s(9735384) s(30732345-4046772
chs: (1023/15/63)-(1023/15/63)d (30488/7/1)-(40146/8/57)r

Primary partition(3)
type: 130(0x82)(Linux swap or Solaris/x86)
size: 243mb #s(49788 s(40467861-4096574
chs: (1023/15/63)-(1023/15/63)d (40146/11/1)-(40640/9/62)r

Primary partition(4)
type: 007(0x07)(OS/2 HPFS, NTFS, QNX or Advanced UNIX)
size: 19194mb #s(39310984) s(40965813-80276796)
chs: (1023/15/63)-(1023/15/63)d (40640/11/1)-(79639/10/55)r


my utmost concern is the windows data partition that is D drive. i really need to recover that data (photo and mp3). my question is:
1. what's that error message means
2. what is the command to use to repair/recover the partition and make that drive bootable so i can copy the data to somewhere else.

i know about photorec and i like to avoid from using it because it needs extra storage to recover the data. since i only have 1 disk and i'm not into buying a new one.

your quick reply is most appreciated.

[daneks]

Hi,

So. Do you want to recover your files from windows or you want to fix the boot problems.

Wich one is more important to you?

I'm sure I can recover your files. Just don't touch anything, write me back, and be patient.