Need OS reinstall headache

Ok here is the senario.
Gateway desktop. Would not boot at all. Ran the Windows XP recovery console. Used chkdsk /r. After that it would boot in normal and safe mode, but would lock up and need to be completely powered down and reboot.

On one of the reboots actually was able to get the control panel to remove bad installation of Windows Live One Care.

Was using Hirens to run pc check for hardware diag. Thought there might be some hardware issues. PC shut off on its own during the HDD smart test. Now the pc will not boot in any mode. Cannot run the step 2 windows repair, only a destructive install.

Wondering if anyone knows any tricks for installing the OS without loosing all program installations. Or of any tool to recover drivers before a destructive install.

Thanks
SG:confused

 

Yeah, just install to a different folder. When it asks you to format, DON'T. Then for your installation path, make it anything. Like zdawg32 for example. I am going to assume that you use zdawg32. After that installs, just boot to there. After you are done and everythig is working again,
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=142511
although, delete the one that says windows, and keep the one that says zdawg32.
Good luck!

 

If the drive itself is failing then you might as well buy a new one to use as a new install then with that running as master you can put the other drive in as slave and see what you can do about fixing it from there or recover your files before it goes completely. There is a possibility that your PC is shutting down from over heating and thats why you could not complete the Smart Scan. Check the CPU fan and heat sink for function or clogging (canned air?).