recovering xp bootup?

[keba]

Hi everyone =)
Despite my earlier smileyface i am really not that jolly right now.

I am running a dualboot with vista (which bootscreens on startup, that sux) and xp, using the grubloader if i recall correctly.

I have recently had my harddisk out of the box, as i needed to transfer some files to my friend and didn't want to bring my entire PC, due to the fact that i was travelling by train. As my friend only had a laptop, i couldn't connect the harddisk directly, so luckily i had one of those USB-to-IDE cables. I connected successfully to his PC and everything worked fine.
When I got home I connected it to my PC and got an 'error loading os' error. I googled a bit, ran the checkdisk, fixboot, fixmbr, and when none of those worked i ran bootcfg.
Bootcfg couldn't do anything as it found no windows installations present, even though i can see them as partitions in the windows installer, without the installer recognizes them as os's. I have now been googling for a couple of hours, only finding posts from people who wish to recover fried harddrives with no avail.
I now get the error "a disk read error occured press corl+alt+del to restart"
I can see the files on both drives and dont think anything is wrong with the filesytems, just the bootloader. I wish to recover the xp partition, and some files from the vista partition, but i really dont want to format the drive as reinstalling takes forever with all the drivers, games and personal settings i have.

how do i force it to load the xp installation?

(ps. sorry for spelling and such, have written it all fast with one hand on an old laptop.)

 

[KSoD]

So the VIsta install is corrupted and you want to load XP? Does it give the bootloader at all? If not you will have to use the XP disc and go intot he Recovery Console. There do a fixboot or fixmbr.

Can also try to recover the Vista bootloader.

Repairing the Windows Vista Bootloader - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki

Use EasyBCD to change the Bootloader settings so that XP is default id you want.

 

[keba]

Thx for replying, I wasn't very clear i guess.

Right now I don't want to use vista anymore, just xp, but i says "a disk read error occured...". I want to boot up in xp, but neither xp nor vista works. I have tried fixmbr and fixboot, but none of those worked.
Back when i set this up i believe i used EasyBCD but i can no longer access that as no os boots.

Do you know how i can do that?

 

[KSoD]

You will have to either try to repair XP or you will be forced to reinstall.

If the fixboot and fixmbr both failed that is your final hope.

 

[keba]

wow fast reply =)

I cannot repair in the windows installer, by finding the system and pressing r as usual, and I ran the chkdsk successfully. Is there any other way to repair the installation?

 

[KSoD]

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install