I don't have a 2.5" form-factor IDE laptop drive to replace the dead one, so I tried to install XP SP1 on my previous external drive without repartitioning it.

Stop 0x7B baby, yeah...

Something is tickling the back of my mind me about a parition size limit for the boot partition in XP SP1.

So, in order to get this done right, I have to hope that somewhere in my Pile Of Disaster I have a copy of my partitionmagic boot cd, so I can shrink the partition down to size....

That is assuming that that is the reason it's not booting after the initial installation copying-to-disk sequence.

I hate teh BSODs--even when I can track down the reasons for them and address them--which is 99.9%--it just sucks my life energy every time I have to do it...I may just install FreeBSD or Linux on my PS3.

I'm going to turn on and plug in my recovery disk from SalvageData, just so I can at least see my files.

I've missed them.

Evaluation	02/01/2007 11:29 AM
We have completed an extensive analysis of your Hitachi drive, and have determined that it is possible to salvage your data. Please give us a call at 800.970.7188 to speak to a representative about the details of our findings and how to proceed.

I left a message...now I'm just waiting to hear how bad the damage is and how much this is going to cost.