Cannot boot after running Repair

[robin]

Because of a problem with "Search", which was not working, I decided
to run a repair (following the regular repair option offered) from the
XP intallation disc. But now, after the repair, Windows will not boot.
I get the screen telling me to use the last successful installation
and with options also to start in Safe Mode. None of the options work.
All come back to the same screen again.

I decided to reinstall XP on a different partition, which I have now
done, but one user's My Documents folder was protected, and I can't
access it.

Is there a way to do one of 3 things?

- successfully boot the first installation
- access the protected folder from the new installation
- if I reinstall XP over the first installation will I be able to
access the folder via that user's desktop? (I know the password.)



TIA.

Robin

 

[Ted Zieglar]

When you say that the folder was "protected" do you mean that it was
encrypted? If so, and if you did not backup the encryption key, you cannot
recover the files.

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

To access your old user folder, you'll need to Take Ownership.

See Help and Support and search for "take ownership"

HOW TO: Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=308421

 

[robin]

To access your old user folder, you'll need to Take Ownership.

See Help and Support and search for "take ownership"

HOW TO: Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=308421

Fantastic Doug! It worked. That folder had all my work in it, and
unusally for me I hadn't backed up this week.

Thanks a million.

Robin

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

You're welcome