Kona,

It is probably less of a disaster than you think.

While waiting for 'yraq' (which I would also recommend) you could use Ubuntu to copy your data to a removable storage source if you can see it from within Ubuntu.

It sounds to me like you may have more than one partition marked as active (or one without the system files for XP).

If you have an installation disc for XP, you could use the recovery console. I have not had to run 'diskpart' via the console, but it can be used to list partitions and then mark the proper one active (assuming the 'list partition' and 'select partition' are valid commands in recovery console).

You can definitely use the 'fixboot' and 'fixmbr' commands in recovery console if needed (after backing up your data).

Here are a couple links if you want to try anything before yraq drops by   :

Recovery console commands:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/recovery_console_cmds.mspx?mfr=true

Mark partition active (use the command line reference as needed):

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/dm_active_partition.mspx?mfr=true

Kona,

If you have Ubuntu 7.04 (feisty fawn) live CD, you should be able to load the live CD into memory and then access your files (Places > Computer > Drive > Documents and Settings). I don't know about earlier versions of Ubuntu as to whether they can read the 'NTFS' format.

If you can and have either a second optical drive (burner) or a second internal or external drive, you can copy your files for backup.