XP boot problem

My computer would not boot, so I used the SAFE MODE. I could see my wif'es
files and favorite links. I attempted to do a system restore a couple times
choosing dates a few days/weeks back. It kept failing. I chose the option
for the computer to restore to the last good one...it went back to OCT 2003
(took about 30 mins) and now ALL my wife's documents (mine too, but who
cares) and favorites can not be found. My wife has been getting her MASTER's
Degree online for 23 months... HELP!!!!

I think I'm in big trouble. There is no undo last restore choice... HELP!!

At a minimum I have to find the files on the C drive and burn them to a CD.
I've got the internet connection fixed. Would love to find the Favorites
also for her (important ones)...Scott

"Scott" wrote:

> My computer would not boot, so I used the SAFE MODE. I could see my wif'es
> files and favorite links. I attempted to do a system restore a couple times
> choosing dates a few days/weeks back. It kept failing. I chose the option
> for the computer to restore to the last good one...it went back to OCT 2003
> (took about 30 mins) and now ALL my wife's documents (mine too, but who
> cares) and favorites can not be found. My wife has been getting her MASTER's
> Degree online for 23 months... HELP!!!!

I seriously doubt that you went back to Oct 2003.
Consider this a Restore point is made every day........that means you would
have aprox 840 restore points each taking up a certain amount of space on
your HD.Lets be conservative and say 30mb......times this by 840 and you
have 25200 mb which i believe is a 25gig HD .
How big a HD do you have??

try going back to system restore
peter

--
"Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others."
"Scott" <Scott@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F7FE9B59-B004-4C88-B473-45CC0FB833D3@microsoft.com...
> My computer would not boot, so I used the SAFE MODE. I could see my
> wif'es
> files and favorite links. I attempted to do a system restore a couple
> times
> choosing dates a few days/weeks back. It kept failing. I chose the
> option
> for the computer to restore to the last good one...it went back to OCT
> 2003
> (took about 30 mins) and now ALL my wife's documents (mine too, but who
> cares) and favorites can not be found. My wife has been getting her
> MASTER's
> Degree online for 23 months... HELP!!!!

Peter,
I am at the restore screen and it gives me the 10th and 11th of MAR
highlighted, but when I try to go back a month, it jumps to 1 NOV 2003. In
the tech box the restore failed multiple times, so the next option under it
is restore to the last backup. It too about 30 minutes, but I guess the last
backup was on that date.

It won't give me any highlighted dates,

Any more ideas,
Scott

"peter" wrote:

> I seriously doubt that you went back to Oct 2003.
> Consider this a Restore point is made every day........that means you would
> have aprox 840 restore points each taking up a certain amount of space on
> your HD.Lets be conservative and say 30mb......times this by 840 and you
> have 25200 mb which i believe is a 25gig HD .
> How big a HD do you have??
>
> try going back to system restore
> peter
>
> --
> "Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others."
> "Scott" <Scott@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:F7FE9B59-B004-4C88-B473-45CC0FB833D3@microsoft.com...
> > My computer would not boot, so I used the SAFE MODE. I could see my
> > wif'es
> > files and favorite links. I attempted to do a system restore a couple
> > times
> > choosing dates a few days/weeks back. It kept failing. I chose the
> > option
> > for the computer to restore to the last good one...it went back to OCT
> > 2003
> > (took about 30 mins) and now ALL my wife's documents (mine too, but who
> > cares) and favorites can not be found. My wife has been getting her
> > MASTER's
> > Degree online for 23 months... HELP!!!!
>
>
>

Peter,
I appreciate anything you or others can do to help me search my hard drive
for the files. Should they still be there? Somewhere? It's 3:30am so I'm
off to bed...have a work appt at 0700 about 30 minutes from Baltimore...I'll
check back around 11am to see if I'm out of hot water or boiled to
death....tks, Scott

"Scott" wrote:

> Peter,
> I am at the restore screen and it gives me the 10th and 11th of MAR
> highlighted, but when I try to go back a month, it jumps to 1 NOV 2003. In
> the tech box the restore failed multiple times, so the next option under it
> is restore to the last backup. It too about 30 minutes, but I guess the last
> backup was on that date.
>
> It won't give me any highlighted dates,
>
> Any more ideas,
> Scott
>
> "peter" wrote:
>
> > I seriously doubt that you went back to Oct 2003.
> > Consider this a Restore point is made every day........that means you would
> > have aprox 840 restore points each taking up a certain amount of space on
> > your HD.Lets be conservative and say 30mb......times this by 840 and you
> > have 25200 mb which i believe is a 25gig HD .
> > How big a HD do you have??
> >
> > try going back to system restore
> > peter
> >
> > --
> > "Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others."
> > "Scott" <Scott@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:F7FE9B59-B004-4C88-B473-45CC0FB833D3@microsoft.com...
> > > My computer would not boot, so I used the SAFE MODE. I could see my
> > > wif'es
> > > files and favorite links. I attempted to do a system restore a couple
> > > times
> > > choosing dates a few days/weeks back. It kept failing. I chose the
> > > option
> > > for the computer to restore to the last good one...it went back to OCT
> > > 2003
> > > (took about 30 mins) and now ALL my wife's documents (mine too, but who
> > > cares) and favorites can not be found. My wife has been getting her
> > > MASTER's
> > > Degree online for 23 months... HELP!!!!
> >
> >
> >

Scott wrote:

> Peter,
> I appreciate anything you or others can do to help me search my hard
> drive
> for the files. Should they still be there? Somewhere? It's 3:30am
> so I'm off to bed...have a work appt at 0700 about 30 minutes from
> Baltimore...I'll check back around 11am to see if I'm out of hot water
> or boiled to death....tks, Scott

Do nothing further on the computer. Because you apparently aren't
computer savvy (and I'm not saying this to hurt your feelings), take
the machine (or hard drive) to a professional computer repair shop that
does data recovery. This will not be your local equivalent of
BigStoreUSA. When you get the machine back, have them show you (or your
wife) how to back up to prevent this kind of crisis in the future.

If you don't have anyone local competent to do this (very unlikely since
you mention Balto) or you want to try yourself, Easy Recovery Pro and
R-Studio are good data recovery programs. Otherwise, consider sending
the drive to a professional data recovery firm. I prefer DriveSavers
(www.drivesavers.com) but there are others such as Ontrack and Seagate
Data Recovery. These firms' services are not inexpensive, but only you
can determine the value of your data.

Good luck,

Malke
--
MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"

"Scott" wrote:

> My computer would not boot, so I used the SAFE MODE. I could see my wif'es
> files and favorite links. I attempted to do a system restore a couple times
> choosing dates a few days/weeks back. It kept failing. I chose the option
> for the computer to restore to the last good one...it went back to OCT 2003
> (took about 30 mins) and now ALL my wife's documents (mine too, but who
> cares) and favorites can not be found. My wife has been getting her MASTER's
> Degree online for 23 months... HELP!!!!

take ur hard drive out of computer.install a new hard drive.reinstall
windows.get
a usb to ide kit (a wire with a 40 pin connecter & a transformer $35.00 )
connect
ur "dead" drive to usb hole while ur pc is running.double click my computer
on desk top. double click E drive u should see everything on ur "dead"
drive.if u click windows u should see my faverts.microsoft nicely has it
marked with a blue star . copy & paste.