thanks for all your help,
a little update, without using your file i somehow got the computer to boot with a windows xp disk now, then i click on the "R" for recovery,
after i hit the R it does a few tests on the hard drive (at the bottom of the screen some writing comes up) then after about 30 seconds the blue screen disappears, it goes to a black screen and sits at the C:/ prompt,
if i type in "dir" it comes up with some error like it cant read the drive,
the only way possible i can somewhat access my c: drive is to boot with a windows 98 cd that i made,
from there i have tried to run bootcfg programs but it wont let me, comes up with some error again,
i tried running scandisk from there and it starts and checks out the drive and fixes some errors, but when it gets to the "file system" part it gets stuck a 2%
i have tried it many times and stays at 2% i even left it overnight,
are there any other recovery programs i could use? do you think ordering an hp recovery disk is worth the price? cause im kinda thinking the drive is toast,
if i try to install windows xp it will erase the drive contents, correct?
opinions? thanks