Win2k inaccessable boot device: help?

I have a friend who is running an older setup: win2k on a pent III 450Mhz with 384 MB SDRAM.

She is getting a stop 0x7B Inaccessible Boot device error while Win2K is loading.
The rhetoric that follows :


"Check for viruses on your computer. remove any newly installed
hardware or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive
to make sure it is properly configured and terminated.
Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive curruption and then
restart your computer, Refer to your Getting Started manual for more information on
troubleshooting Stop errors"

Pretty annoying advice since there are no new devices installed, and windows won't boot far enough to check for viruses. Naturally, she doesn't have the "getting started" manual.

I tried all the F8 options, but none work.

I was able to use a DR DOS cd to get into her hdd and see that her data is still there and accessable, but it doesn't have chkdsk on it.

There is a suspicious file in the root directory (stubn~1.exe) I can't find anything on, and a huge .dmp file from kodak easyshare.

Her Win2k disk is not much help: it offers 4 different types of installations (i.e. win2k server) , but no repair features. She doesn't have a ERD.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q122926 is not much help.

I am not sure where she got the disk (it is not an original). Her husband reinstalled Win2k and all programs about 6 weeks ago, and it has been running fine until yesterday.

I recommended that she get a new computer with a current/legit OS and slave the old Hdd to recover her data (pics and outlook address book are her concerns), but she is on a limited budget and her husband is deployed to Iraq.

Any suggestions? The puter is the only real link she has with her deployed husband (via email) so I am trying to figure out a quick, inexpensive solution for her.

Thanks.

 

Different reasons for INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE