BSOD XP and a damsel in distress - help!!

Help please!! I have an old XP HP desktop - cannot get past the blue screen to do anything. Will not boot up in any mode - safe, command prompt etc. Error message is:

Registry File Failure
Cannot load hive
Systemroot/syste32/cibfig/software
corrupt, absent or not writable
beginning memory dump

I don't care about the computer but I do want some pix!! I may be blonde but yes 95% are backed up....but not100%. I have original disc and put in the drive to run a repair but when I put in the disc - I can see the light turn on and it runs but nothing happens.....I am total novice so thought you super smart guys might be able to help me!

ugh please please please help!:cry

 

If the hard drive is failing, I would recommend you get the files you need first and then we can try to restore the computer. I assume you have another computer available for downloading and installing the following program. Hopefully your CD drive will be able to boot it.

Download ERD 2007 from this site. This is a 30 day demo but will work just to get your photos off the drive. The site is in German but the file is English. When this MSDaRT50Eval.msi is installed it creates an ISO image – erd50.iso – which is located at C:\Program Files\Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset\erd50.iso. Burn the iso file with Imgburn at 4X. Make sure when you install Imgburn that the Ask toolbar box is unchecked. Connect the USB flash drive then boot the CD. Double click My Computer and transfer the files to a USB flash drive by right clicking your photos, selecting "Copy to" not "Move to". Then select your flash drive in the dialog box. Do a copy, not a move. The USB flash drive may be listed as "D" drive or some other letter.

How to write an image file to a disc using ImgBurn

 

Thanks this is why I love you guys - someone actually does help you! Good thing is, I speak German, bad thing is that my computer is giving me this error when I try to download....error message this can only run on the x86 platform so it didn't download all the way....anything else i can do?

 

That tells me you might be trying to download and install on a Vista or Windows 7 computer, correct?

Another option would be to download Puppy linux and burn the iso with Imgburn. Boot the CD with a flash drive attached.

In the below link do not use the burning program suggested. Also note that your hard drive will probably be labeled Sda1 and your USB flash drive Sdd1. Start at "Starting Puppy Linux in LiveCD mode" When you click on the hard drive icon in the lower left, the drive will be automatically mounted and the file manager window will appear. Do the same with the USB icon and then just copy over your photos.

Recover files from Windows hard disk using Puppy Linux

 

:cry

Ok downloaded Linux to CD - fantastic! Put in CD in old HP disc drive and I can hear it running but again I get nowhere. I have some F2 and F12 options but other than that I go straight to the BSOD. Anything else I could try? Thank you soooooooo much!!!

 

I am not sure what the key to get into BIOS (it may be F1 or F10 ) but make sure your CD drive is the first boot device.

Does the F2 or F12 give any option to boot from the CD?

 

Ok at this point, I am trying most anything - I have both a CD port and a CDR port and I have tried both. Zip. I have tried F12 for some different boot options - zippo.

Am starting to panic - cuz the pics of are of my only daughter - from the last six months or so....

I know this is a pain in the booty but if you can think of anything else for me to do - I will try again tomorrow....just can't afford the $200 Geek Squad bill right know - ya know?

 

Turn off the computer and Reboot. When it starts to power up Tap the F1 key. If that does not work reboot and try the F10 key. You may even want to try the DEL key. Does it let you get into BIOS setup? If so, you should be able to look under the Boot options.

What is the model of your HP computer?

 

OMG I got it - Linux booted up!!!! Yahoo - got Puppy installed - and the program ran but now I have black screen. I am too terrified to do anything....what's next? Do I turn off and restart - yikes so scary after at least I got something going...but just let me know. You guys rock!!!

 

Puppy was a liveCD that runs in RAM. You should not have installed it to the hard drive. Did you actually install it to the hard drive? Or, did you just boot the CD and when it finished it's thing, you got a black screen?

 

Hmmm not 100% sure but when it was running it gave different lines and I am pretty sure one of them was about RAM and the hard drive. I got a red DONE after each command and then a bark - and then a black screen. Shoot did I load it wrong? Suggestions?

 

So I don't know - I just let the CD do it's thing when it booted up and then I got a black screen.

 

When you boot up the CD and the Dog appears first thing press F2 and then type:

puppy acpi=no

See if that works. If not, we will have to try an older version of puppy. Download and burn this iso.

When this boots, you should get a dialog box called Xorg Wizard. This should allow you to probe for your hardware and monitor.

 

Ok TGELL thanks for all your help but believe it or not, while I was upstairs my husband came downstairs and tried putting in the original XP disc and it actually ran too....hoping that might be good news? He did click R for recovery and it asks for our password...sigh. When we hit enter without a password we get a generic c:\windows> prompt. Again hope hope hoping this might be good news? Any help from here? Are you guys so sick of me yet?:-D

 

Looks like you need to study this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

 

OOOOhhhh i am so sad. I clearly pissed you folks off - sorry.

 

No, we are not pissed off. Have you tried the link that satrow referenced? Trying to transfer files using a command prompt is problematic and not an ideal situation. Using the link that satrow referenced would let you get to a bootable XP.

Have you tried the older version of Puppy I posted? Did you try the command at boot?

puppy acpi=no

If Puppy does not work for you, there is another solution that may work.

 

Like tgell said, not pissed off at all - sometimes I'm just busy so I'll drop in some info you can look over so you can weigh up the options and/or ask about.

The link I gave gives one method to try a fix, UBCD would allow a very similar fix to be made, Puppy allows you to pull off any vital files before deciding whether to try a fix or go for a reinstall of Windows.