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.

hope someone could help soon.

thanks!

will wrote:
> 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.

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 dsafe.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

can you get into F8 Safe Mode?

"will" wrote:

> 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.
>
> hope someone could help soon.
>
> thanks!

my partner tried that as well but it would go no further than that. i was
wondering if i should call dixons because it's still within warranty.

"Dixonian69" wrote:

> can you get into F8 Safe Mode?
>
> "will" wrote:
>
> > 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.
> >
> > hope someone could help soon.
> >
> > thanks!

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.

"Shenan Stanley" wrote:

> will wrote:
> > 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.
>
> 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 dsafe.
>
> --
> Shenan Stanley
> MS-MVP
> --
> How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>
>
>

If still under warranty, can at least ask!!

"will" wrote:

> my partner tried that as well but it would go no further than that. i was
> wondering if i should call dixons because it's still within warranty.
>
> "Dixonian69" wrote:
>
> > can you get into F8 Safe Mode?
> >
> > "will" wrote:
> >
> > > 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.
> > >
> > > hope someone could help soon.
> > >
> > > thanks!

will wrote:
> 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 Stanley wrote:
> 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.

will wrote:
> 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/u...ysrestore.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

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

i tried to use the f8 function on start up and used both safe mode and safe
mode for networking and neither produced any result. i also used the last
configuration option which also produced no result.

my laptop does not include an xp repair installation disc, only the product
recovery cd.

does this mean there is no other way of backing up the files ie. picture
files???


"Shenan Stanley" wrote:

> will wrote:
> > 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 Stanley wrote:
> > 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.
>
> will wrote:
> > 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/u...ysrestore.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
>
> --
> Shenan Stanley
> MS-MVP
> --
> How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>
>
>

will wrote:
> i tried to use the f8 function on start up and used both safe mode
> and safe mode for networking and neither produced any result. i
> also used the last configuration option which also produced no
> result.
>
> my laptop does not include an xp repair installation disc, only the
> product recovery cd.
>
> does this mean there is no other way of backing up the files ie.
> picture files???

Are you sure the CD is not a Windows XP installation CD?

You could get a product like Symantec/Norton Ghost and image the laptop to
an external drive/network location.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

"Shenan Stanley" <newshelper@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:%23GmL1p0CGHA.2436@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl
> will wrote:
>> i tried to use the f8 function on start up and used both safe mode
>> and safe mode for networking and neither produced any result. i
>> also used the last configuration option which also produced no
>> result.
>>
>> my laptop does not include an xp repair installation disc, only the
>> product recovery cd.
>>
>> does this mean there is no other way of backing up the files ie.
>> picture files???
>
> Are you sure the CD is not a Windows XP installation CD?
>
> You could get a product like Symantec/Norton Ghost and image the
> laptop to an external drive/network location.
>
> --
> Shenan Stanley
> MS-MVP

You cold take the hard diskout and hook it up as a secondary disk on another
computer and probably recover the files.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE
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