HELP! Windows XP Pro SP2 won't start after Power On Self Test (POS

[Guest]

Windows XP Pro SP2 won't start after Power On Self Test (POST) screen
appears. There is a horizontal cursor in the left corner that blinks (I
thought I heard it saying "You're screwed... but I'm sure it was just my
imagination.)

I had just installed Norton GoBack 2005 (obviously a mistake) and when I
restarted, this is what happened. This computer is my laptop that has
EVERYTHING in my life and business on it which I haven't backed up for too
long - UGH! The laptop has no floppy drive. How do you get Windows to get
to the safe mode, or an MS DOS prompt or something where I can undo this
install?
--
Boothtec
Now working in Rosarito Beach with no internet connection! I only can get
online when I'm home in Northern California on the weekends...
Baja California
Mexico

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

A horizontal cursor in the top left corner often means that
your primary partition is not set to "active". Boot the machine
with a Win98 boot disk (www.bootdisk.com), then run
fdisk.exe to set it to "active".

After you've fixed the problem, get yourself a 2.5" hard
disk in a USB case and use it to back up your data weekly.
They cost surprisingly little!

 

[Wouter Willemse]

If it hangs before it showed any Windows screen, you should check your BIOS
first. Make sure it detects the HDD, and if it does, try to boot from a
Windows XP CD, go into the recovery console and check with utilities as
bootcfg etc. if the Windows installation is properly detected.In the BIOS,
also check the boot sequence; the HDD needs to be listed.

If you do get any kinf of Windows screen, you should try safe mode first.
Press F8 to get the windows startup menu.