Really confusing problem S.O.S.!

Ok so here is my little (read: BIG) problem step by step:

1)When I first got this laptop, I wiped the HD and did a fresh install of windows.

2)Once windows and basic proggies were installed, I reduced the partition to 8 GB and duplicated it, hiding one of them as a "recovery partition" of sorts.

3)Later, I installed the Vista Beta on yet a third partition which I had created. Somehow, the installation bled over onto my XP partition and ****ed it up.

4)I activated the recovery XP partition and made that my boot partition, in dual boot mode with Vista.

5)So I was left with the following situation: (F:\)My Vista partition, (C:\)My broken XP partition, and (G:\) my booting XP partition

6)i never deleted the windows system files on the C Drive

7)Now I want to expand the G Drive so that I can fit things in the My Documents folder

8)When i go into Disk Management, it shows that my booting partition is G, but my system partition is C:? And the partitions are locked and cannot be reduced/expanded.

Is it possible that somehow my computer is still partially running windows off the C Drive? I wouldn't think this is the case since My Documents and other such folders are on the G Drive in my windows account.

I'm hopelessly confused and REALLY don't want to have to format the partitions and start over with XP. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance

 

You got a CD image of the original Windows? otherwise, i think your up a creek. Better start saving important documents.

 

I've got the Windowx XP OEM CD, as well as the sony backup cds that i made, but i really dont want to have to reinstall all this crap....

 

yes, the c: partition is still partitially used. Don't forget your boot.ini and a few other files(like for example ntdlr) are on there and being used during the boot process. So you can't just delete your c partition. I however have no idea how you can resolve this.

 

bump in hopes of further insight

 

Could you explain how the C:\ partition is not working? Does it refuse to boot, is it missing system files, or what? Deleting the C:\ partition and shifting the G:\ over to gain space is not an option, at least not in PartitionMagic.
Assuming you want to rescue the C:\ partition:
If it won't boot b/c the boot sectors are messed up, boot from your XP CD and enter the Recovery console. Enter the command "fixboot" and then the command "fixmbr" (master boot record) to reallocate the tables and have them overwritten. Be aware that by entering these commands you will overwrite the dual-boot setup Vista arranged for you but it will salvage the C:\ partition.

 

I am completely lost. In general, partitioning and moving and hiding and repartitioning gets a little dangerous, hence the warning almost every program will give you before doing anything serious with the disks. Your best bet is a total reinstall. Even if you managed to recover the way you were before, the partitions sound corrupted (the bleeding you referred to) so you probably can't trust them to hold your important data. I say wipe the drive clean and format to NTFS with something like the Gparted live CD and then reinstall Windows.

Good Luck,
Brett

 

In essence, the c:\ does actually work, but parts of the windows xp installation on the c: got messed up courtesy of the vista installation on f: (dont even ask me how that happened). So, I unhid the g: which had a backup installation of windows on it and set that as the boot partition. However, I fear that the computer is booting off of the g: but still using parts of the windows installation on c: (which is confusing, seeing as when I boot up, the my Documents and other such folders are located on g

I'm beginning to come to the realization that I may just have to load up the trusty external hd and get ready for a full day of installations...