Linux Mint Forums

Very hard to say what happened
Can you use the live CD?
If you can you can also access your files
If you can't boot Vista then you can repair grub from the live CD
http://www.linuxmint.com/wiki/index.php ... _your_grub
Then you have access to Vista again and possibly Mint
Kernel panic is an expression used when the kernel meats a serious error - as Wikipedia states
detecting an internal fatal error from which it cannot safely recover
and that can be that it somehow does not boot properly
In case of a serious crisis that needs to be fixed quickly go to the IRC
#linuxmint on spotchat (if you can't use Mint)

I fear hardware error... The SATA controller....
That is if you previously booted this CD and it's not damaged
Is it an IDE or a SATA CD/DVD?

amanda89 wrote:think i going to go buy a sata enclosure and try and get the stuff off there and onto my laptop

I think that's a good idea but there's a risk that the disk died completely