MBR and possible Partition table deletion

[spot6789]

Got a bit of a problem with my windows XP box. A few days ago I booted up and got nothing. No error messages, or beeps. Just a black screen with the cursor blinking at the top. I managed to download a utility called Active@ uneraser (anyone heard of it?) ran it and found that all my files are still intact, just the (i'm assuming) MBR is gone and that uneraser has interpreted my partitions (c, f) as a ? (e.g. uneraser will list c:/program files as ?:/program files)

Is this just a MBR problem? and what are possible solutions? or is this both an MBR and partition table probem, in which case is it possible to retireve my files and how? I'm also thinking that this was the work of a virus, so if I simply reformat my drive, will it get rid of the virus? Thanks for any help you can give me, as I'm a complete newbie at this stuff. Also how would FIXMBR and FIXBOOT affect my partitions?

System Specs:
Intel P4 @ 2.0 GHz
OS - Windows XP Corp
512 MB DDR RAM
40 gig HD split into 2 partitions @20BG

 

[sPlAtOiD]

WinXP

If you MBR is corrupt you can put your winxp cd in the drive
and boot from your cd rom.You might have to change your boot order to do it but if you have a newer computer you should have a hot key on my computer its f11bootup.when you boot to the cd use the R key for restore and use the MBR Repair opton.
When I used fix boot it gave me a message asking if i really wanted to do this i said yes and it went fine.Not real sure if that is your problem but might help.Also there are many ways to get your files before you reinstall.