Viral infection - OS not loading!

Question

I have XP sp2 and Ubuntu 8.04 on my laptop.

Because of some Virus, I am unable to start any of the OS.

Even I am unable to reinstall XP and Vista !

I have tried to reinstall Kubuntu 10.04, but some partitioning error arrives.

I dont want to loss my data except in system drive.

What should I do ?

EDIT :

I have also tried to run Ubuntu & OpenSOlaris from disc. But, they both are just not loading the actual harddisk partitions !!! They shows their own drive only ! How do I access to my data ?

Answer 1

A. Buy an External Drive.

B. Boot Your computer with Ubuntu (CD VERSION - do not install)

C. Backup everything.

D. Format you HD from scratch

E. If you still have problems installing a new OS - it is not a virus, but a hardware problem.

Answer 2

You can use WindowsPreBoot Live CDs or even Knoppix to get your data.

You can use any live antivirus cd if you'd like to remove the virus:

• http://www.softpedia.com/downloadTag/Kaspersky+LiveCD
• http://www.free-av.com/en/products/12/avira_antivir_rescue_system.html

Edit:

I'm not sure that this is a virus. In some rare cases Windows does not boot if the filesystem is damaged. You can fix it with the Windows Installation CD. Just boot from your Windows Installation cd and do not install - select repair (console) and enter

chkdsk /f C:

in the console.

And this will prevent other OS's from detecting and mounting too...