XP-Home Edition Can't start

[nctechno]

Every time I power my laptop with XP-Home it comes to the "start with" options screen. I have tried every one of those choices and as it proceeds to boot, I get a very quick glimpse
at what looks like the blue screen of death and then reboots its self. Any ideas?

I had not backed up my data for a year and now I find my self looking into paying some bucks for data retrieval.

I also tried using my HDD as a slave drive on another system and then get the data (I've done this to other drives) but I could not gain access to it.

 

[Freestone]

Can you explain further the "could not gain access to it."? What happened? What error messages?

 

[linney]

Do you have SP2 installed, if you do, go to the proper Safe Mode screen via pressing the F8 key at bootup, here you should find an option to turn off Automatic Restarts, so that it will halt and allow you to read the exact error message.

See if you can also load the Recovery Console and run ChkDsk /r to check the hard drive for problems.

HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console for Windows XP (Q307654)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q307/6/54.asp

To check your RAM.

http://www.memtest86.com/

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

http://www.simmtester.com/PAGE/products/doc/docinfo.asp

To check your Hard Drive further.

The drive manufacturer will have free diagnostic software to check your drive for problems.

If you have the hard drive attached to another machine, these might help.

HOW TO: Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP (Q308421)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q308/4/21.asp

Error Message: "Access Is Denied" When You Try to Open NTFS File System Folders

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q823306#appliesto

You can access the Security Tab via Safe Mode, or disabling "Use Simple File Sharing" in Folder Options/ View (XP Pro only, not XP Home re Simple File Sharing).

Also for what it is worth, quick vanishing screens can sometimes be photographed with a digital camera.

 

[nctechno]

Thanks for the replies both of you. To freestone, what I mean by "no access" is that the drive could be seen by the bios and by explorer but when I clicked on this "slave" drive" the hour glass would come on but never show the contents of the drive as we normally do wen browsing a drive or folder.

To linney, I have yet to try your ideas; I will post when I do so. Thanks again.