XP Home: PC won't boot

[J_A]

ok this is going to be a long post but please, you're my only hope. read on :)

originally, on saturday I got an error message

invalid boot.ini file / booting from c:/windows

then what I've ended up with is a complete system failure, the comp is caught up in a loop it can't break out of. it switches between the fujitsu-siemens screen (the one with Bios setup and boot menu) and the error message.
I've been to the IT and they couldn't fix it.
we tried repairing the system with the XP cd but it didn't work; tried restoring the system without losing the data (because I haven't done a backup in a while)
eventually, we tried hooking up the comp to an external harddisk drive and recovering the data with two different tools, nothing worked.
now we've ended up taking out the internal hdd and tried taking the data off it by hooking it up to another comp. nothing.

is there anything anyone out there can think of that I can do before formatting the hdd and losing all my data? please advise. I'd be very grateful.

p.s. could this be a virus deleting my harddisk?

[J_A]

no-one? is there really nothing I can do?

what about that knoppix thing? installing linux over xp? does that work and if so, how? I think I've downloaded the program but it won't start

[JANINE]

ok this is going to be a long post but please, you're my only hope. read on :)

originally, on saturday I got an error message

invalid boot.ini file / booting from c:/windows

then what I've ended up with is a complete system failure, the comp is caught up in a loop it can't break out of. it switches between the fujitsu-siemens screen (the one with Bios setup and boot menu) and the error message.
I've been to the IT and they couldn't fix it.
we tried repairing the system with the XP cd but it didn't work; tried restoring the system without losing the data (because I haven't done a backup in a while)
eventually, we tried hooking up the comp to an external harddisk drive and recovering the data with two different tools, nothing worked.
now we've ended up taking out the internal hdd and tried taking the data off it by hooking it up to another comp. nothing.

is there anything anyone out there can think of that I can do before formatting the hdd and losing all my data? please advise. I'd be very grateful.

p.s. could this be a virus deleting my harddisk?

it is quite possible that a virus has entered your machine and corrupted the boot.ini file.

Unfortunately without it windows will not boot up and you wont be able to retrieve you data from it unless you take the drive to a specialist data recovery agent. this is why its important to keep your data backed up regularly. optimally its a good thing to backup your most important documents as soon as you can after completing the task in hand. other then that perform a backup once a week to an external medium.

to cut a long story short a reformat and a reinstall of the o/s is going to be the only way to put this file back where it belongs on your hard drive. nothing is gonna start without a boot file to kick it into gear.:cool:

[J_A]

what about Knoppix? shouldn't I be able to access the disk on linux?

can you tell me how to burn a bootable cd? I don't have access to nero burning rom on the comps that I can work with at the moment. how do I make it an ISO image and not just an added file?

[JANINE]

what about Knoppix? shouldn't I be able to access the disk on linux?

can you tell me how to burn a bootable cd? I don't have access to nero burning rom on the comps that I can work with at the moment. how do I make it an ISO image and not just an added file?

yes you should be able to as knoppix installs to the ram and not to the hard drive

check out these search results first though
http://www.pcanswers.co.uk/tips/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=6741&subsectionid=609&subsubsectionid=377

http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/SoftwareProblems3.htm#knoppix

http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/RecoveringXP.htm

http://www.thecaretaker.org.uk/todo.htm this one allows you to download a windows xp bootable from the website. have a look and let me know what happens. note its highlighted in red here because of the download options:)

[J_A]

ok, you may close this topic. all failed, got that hd formatted now :(
found some backups though. not all is lost.
thanks

[JANINE]

ok, you may close this topic. all failed, got that hd formatted now :(
found some backups though. not all is lost.
thanks

good stuff;)