ohhhh - sorry if I spam around here... i missed the question about the file system.
NO - Fat12 is not the same as NTFS.
NTFS is based on OS/2s HPFS and works just the other was round than FAT.
As we all know, FAT works on base of an File Allocation Table, which means, that if this table is malfunctional, all data is lost.
Secondary, Fat32 means that every Allocation Unit was outnumbered by a number with 32 bit length. Which again means that since Fat32 , Windows could use more than 2 gb of hddmemory.In brief, the Number behind the "FAT" describes the (bit-) length of the number the os can use to allocate files on the HDD.And FAT itself is just a kind of INVENTORYLIST and MAP for your HDD.
NTFS works right the other way round - there is no central File Allocation Table , but every File contains a kind of "MFT-Tag" which referrs to the MFT ( Master File Table , 2 of them are stored on each partition ). So every File is a part of the file system because it contains a valid information about its location , largeness , attributes and so on.
But I won't annoy you with details - you can find this kind of information at any search engine. The only thing I wanted to say:
No , FAT 12 is definitively NOT NTFS. :winkgrin:
FAT12 is up to now only used for smal storage devices as compact flash, smartmedia, mmc/sd-cards or USBSticks.
Greetz
Pen
@moonchick: I hope you'll get your system runnig or at least my advice helped you to recover your data. Let me know if not - perhaps we'll find another way...