[HELP] Windows XP Profile Corrupted, My Documents is Empty, Can't Boot

Hello All!

I'm working on a friends computer that is unbootable. It is a Vista Home machine that was pounded with spyware and viruses. It won't boot, just goes straight into Vista's recovery mode and then fails on all repairs. I'm trying to back up the user's data but have ran into a problem. All the profiles on the machine were corrupted and the document folders are empty. I've done some reading about transferring the data onto another profile, but the problem is I can't boot into Windows. I'm using UBCD4Win. Is there any way to retrieve the data from the user's profile in the PE?? I appreciate the help and please let me know if you could use more information.

 

One approach might be to install another HDD (with an OS) as Master and the corrupted one as Slave. You might be able to then access the data. I don't think I'd be using another HDD that had needed data on it though - any baddies might jump on board and corrupt that one too.