My trials started here

http://www.howtogeek.com/forum.....post-34353

but that was easy. I'm now at the part where there's the boot manager. Opening XP doesn't work, with the ntldr error mentioned in

http://www.howtogeek.com/forum.....replies=14

To fix this, I need to go into vista.

Choosing Vista in the boot manager won't open Vista either, but will open system repair, which after trying tells me that it's very sorry but it can't repair it. Of course I don't have a system repair disk, so I've made one by downloading the iso from neosmart. ( http://www.howtogeek.com/howto.....-have-one/ ) It gets me to the prompt where I'm asked if I want to install vista or if I want to repair, I choose repair, and it asks me which operating system it wants me to repair. The options are

Windows Recovery Environment Partition Size 9993 Location G:
Microsoft Windows Vista Partition Size 61447 Location C:

Choosing either gets this error message:

This version of System Recovery Options is not compatible with the version of Windows you are trying to repair. Try using a recovery disk that is compatible with this version of Windows.

Should I give up on Vista, reinstall XP and just accept that Vista is doomed? I'm really exhausted.

Hi Geek, Saving the files with an Ubuntu boot CD from a dead systems looks like a sleek way to save the data. Since it is very often less experienced people who get themselves into that bind, it would be useful to have a step by step write-up on how to go about that. That should include guidance thru the Ubuntu commands and for the creation of such a disk. I have seen people in need of such a way out about once a week.

Thank you very much.

I just bought the thing so there isn't much to back up, and my computer didn't come with a copy of Vista. Would it also be alright to reinstall XP onto the D: drive I have reserved for XP and just leave Vista on C: until I can try this again?

whs is correct, the system manufacturer might not have XP drivers, in which case you'd have to use the chipset manufacturer's driver.

For instance, you may have an Asus laptop with an Intel chipset SATA driver. If Asus doesn't provide the XP drivers, you can still look on Intel's site, where they probably do provide the XP driver for the SATA. (This is just an example, Asus might very well provide XP drivers)