Drive C

I believe my laptop got a virus so I ran recovery program for my XP Pro on my T23 IBM Thinkpad. While running the recovery program to reformate my hard drive I got this message, “Setup has determined that drive C: is corrupted and cannot be repaired. Setup cannot continue. What are my options. I don’t believe this true. I had the SP2 install and System Mechanic Professional which was still downloading virus protection everyday. It all started when my laptop started getting ticking sound that was constant. I know it was not my hardware. I notice my system started to become unstable and would not do anything. If it is true and cannot be repaired what are my options?