Cannot access pc angel protected recovery partition files

We can't help with that.

Typically pc angel is software that is use by the manufacture to protect the recovery partition. So I would not recommend breaking into that partition of your hard drive. Beside since you were able to run a search and able to get results those pictures should not be in the D drive. PC angel should not allow you to access that drive anyways just to do a simple search.

If you wish to continue to access your D drive then follow the link below.
NOTE: This may damage your recovery drive and may not be able to use the system recovery at a later date. DO AT YOUR OWN RISK.
-Suggest to make recovery disk if you have not done so already.

http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/how-to-get-rid-of-pc-angel

Gateway Direct systems went "media-less" back in September 2004. In the event of a system crash users could either 1) restore their systems from the Recovery Partition OR 2) from the backup media that they were prompted to create on first power-up -- which would provide them with up to 5 blank CD-R discs depending on their system's configuration.

On the factory load of the hard drive, the recovery partition will not contain operating system files. It only contains application and driver files.
The first time the recovery partition is used, it prompts the user to insert their System Recovery CD/DVD to copy files from the CD to the recovery partition.
The Drivers and Applications CD is not bootable and does not contain Operating System files.
The System Recovery CD/DVD is bootable but does not contain any application or driver files.
If the end-user erases the hard drive and restores the computer using the System Recovery CD/DVD and an Applications and Drivers CD, the recovery partition is not recreated.

This means that you will need the operating system restore disc FIRST then the recovery partition will work for you

If you did a system recovery, it may have told you that it would save your data, but it wouldn't be in the recovery partition. That partition is meant for system files only and it isn't too large.
It could also have told you that your hard drive would be reformatted and the system returned to it's new condition. This means all data was wiped from the hard drive.

So--the answer is: It depends on what you agreed to when you did the system recovery.

The issue you are having involves using multiple systems,...If your emachine came with vistan and you installed xp, you voided your warranty status...However remove your dual boot and stick to vista if you wanna keep your restore partition working properly.....On a side note theres usually conflict with running OEM OS's on dual boot...typically it doesnt work and if it does it doesnt work like you want it to! so here is what you can do..Call Emachine up and fib to them a bit (just alittle) tell them that you cought a nasty bug and it messed with your restore partition and now you cant restore your pc....request the factory programing discs (if you ask nicely they'll hook you up 99.99% of the time) you get the discs so you can reprogram the pc to factory spec if you ever wanted to. Now use a retail version of vista and a retail version of xp. and create your dual boot, feel free to remove your restore partition if you want (cause you have the factory programing discs if you wanna go back to stock stuff YAY) I hope this helps!

The D drive is normally a partition of the C drive rather than a separate drive and is used by many to keep restore files handy for restoration use; system backdating to refresh system files. The D partition, while available and accessible for other purposes is customarily not used for user files and because of the nature of the system installed files, has protection against accidental erasure.
You should be able to copy your photo folders & files intact back to the C (main) partition and regain normal use of them.

Hello Sasafras,

PC Angel is the vendor of the recovery software, the use a proprietor file system for encrypt there files. I can understand how frustrating it is to have the file right there but not able to use them but I'm sure it says some where in the EULA that there recover software only allows back up of 1original recover disk. Most of time you would press a F10 to boot into PC angel recover mode. In your case since your going to be upgrading to Windows XP Pro I would suggest to download the drivers from the gate way website and then update your service packs. Below is a link that has the drivers to your computers system. You can get more specific with a service tag number to narrow down the amount of components that usually ship with that model of computer.

http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/search.asp?st=pn&param=5395

this link will have all the drivers you will need to get your computer working again.

hope this helps you.

generally, its not a second driver your seeing , it is a seperate partition on your ONE drive set aside for holdingyour recovery files incase you need to reinstall all your software back to factory settings of when it was new. The only way to access this drive is through the recovery process, otherwise its protected so not to get messed up.
Hope this answers your question. Please post again if I misunderstood your request..
regards

You will have to get Nortons Ghost or PC Angel. I prefer PC Angel's Recovery Media Creator. It give you a recovery partition and the ability to create restore dvd's

PC Angel will keep coming up when you try and restore the system with the discs you have. Its an integrated solution for PC manufacturers to deploy there systems. The issues you are having usually only come about when you are either trying to install the software on a system it wasnt intended for it does read the hardware and check it the correct computer. or if you have a corrupt disc. Couple of things you can do, firstly you can contact the computer manufacturer support and tell them you are having the issue, or you can delete the disc partition and re-install vista from a different disc. Deleting the partition is easy and just requires software, do a google for free partitioning software and you wil find it. As for getting an IDE converotr, you might find that the laptop if its a new one, has an ATA drive and not an IDE, most of the new laptop have ATA drives installed.