will said:
i downloaded the service pack 2 and my laptop just wont stop
rebooting itself and wont even go to the main screen. itried other
ways just to get to the system but it would not take me further
than the rebooting part. i'm afraid to use the system recovery
because it would erase all of the file that i have not been able
to save. and it has been a long time since i saved some of the
items.
Shenan said:
Uhm - if it is rebooting and you never saved (closed) those files
- well - you never will.
System recovery - for the most part - does not touch your files.
Only if they are executrable types on your desktop are they really
in harms way with a system restore - if in "My Documents" - they
are fairly safe.
are you saying the files in the my document area should be fine and
safe? because when i tried to sytem recover my laptop it deleted
all of the files in "my document".
the other problem is i'm not sure if it would sense the disk if i
was to put it in.
Yes - I am saying that in most cases - files in my documents during a
"System Restore" process (nothing to do with any Windows CD or actually -
any CD at all being close to your machine) should be safe. I accidentally
put "System Recovery". System Recovery would imply that some CDs came with
your system and those restore it back to the "shipped" state - so yes - that
is destructive. Sorry for the confusion.
System Restore is a different beast:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/expert/russel_sysrestore.mspx
And System Restore may be what you should try. Can you boot into Safe Mode
to perform a system restore?
Also - a Repair Installation should leave your files intact as well.
(But you have to have the actual Windows XP installation CD.. not a
"recovery CD".)
How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341