Ok i am back to working on this issue.. I got sidetracked getting the fresh install set up so the owner would atleast have a Computer again.

Quote Originally Posted by brokencrow View Post
Have you tried the Live CD yet?

I ran into a very similar recovery a month or two ago.
The chkdsk /r command failed and from a bootable ERD
cd, the NTFS partition had a similar 'raw' format, 0 bytes
used, 0 bytes free. Booted to an Insert cd with a usb
drive, mounted both the hdd and sda and recovered
everything. It was about a 3 hour job, but well worth
it.

Funny how the drive was mountable in Linux and all
but invisible booting to a Windows/ERD cd.
I have tried one live cd with out much luck, although it was a linux (Gparted)
disk, and i have NO linux skills...The kernel has always confused me.
I am going to have to do a little research before i can try your suggestion. I have never "mounted" a HDD. The only mounting i have done has been iso's or Bin/Cue files.. Do i need to make an image of the drive to mount?
Sorry if these are n00bish questions but i am flying high over my ski's with this issue!