Laptops are a bitch to deal with..I've lost alot of info because I choose to use a laptops instead of desktops. All the connections on the laptop are smaller and everything is shrunk and harder to handle. If your not willing to put out that kinda money you should just bite the bullet and reformat. Some laptops come with a factory restore setting ( its a partition set aside on the HDD just for if you fuck up.. I know all recent Dells have them(which is why they dont' automatically give you a windows cd with your laptop)). Anyway, best of luck in solving your endeavor.