PLEASE help me... (need expert)

[cheeseman222]

Alright, heres my full story, i was cleaning up some folders yesterday, just general maintenance. When i turned on my computer this morning i got the message "NTLDR is missing. press ctrl alt delete to restart" when i press it, the same message comes up again. So I put in my windows XP reinstallation disk, went to "install windows xp" then instead of clicking install fresh copy i went to repair copy on there so it started to say deleting a bunch of system files on the bottom corner and then it said installing a bunch of system files afterward, after that it opened up the full screen thing it does and said it's starting to install windows xp (as in a whole new copy.) I turned it off as soon as it started that. Now when i turn on the computer without the winxp install disk in it does the loading screen (sp1) then it just goes to a black screen (i can just move the mouse.) If i boot with the install disk in it starts to continue winxp installation. What i need to know is if i let it continue installation am i going to lose all my families documents and all my stuff in program files and everything, and is there any way at all i can save them (3 gb of pictures, including all my little sisters birth ones not backed up anywhere else also school work, music etc.) I can't afford to lose this stuff. I'm running winxp service pack 2 (i think its sp1 now though ) I'm on a laptop right now for the next hour and a bit, if you need any info at all about my pc i'll reply within 5 minutes of your posting. Please help!

 

[wozelbeak]

did you have a partition on your hard drive?
if you did and your files were not on the windows partition you shoukld be ok.
woz

 

[cheeseman222]

I'm not sure if i did/do, i never made one but if it's there by default then yes i do. i just found this site http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm and that says that all my applications and everything should be okay, can someone back that up? i really don't wanna take any risks at all.

 

[Kuberr]

If you're reformatting, then the files will be gone. If you're just reinstalling XP, you should be fine.

 

[cheeseman222]

okay ! i'm just reinstalling windows xp. Everything will still be there (programs documents etc) Just want to make sure for the last time and then i'll go away, promise.

 

[wozelbeak]

stick around, it aint a bad place to hang out lol.
maybe we can share a can of white cider (if your old enough) lol.
good luck
woz

 

[Kuberr]

Yeah, they should be there. It's just that the entire system is going to be messed up; you have programs which are already installed but there are no shortcuts and stuff like that. But you should be able to acvess your pictures. Unless they're in My Documents.

 

[cheeseman222]

There all in "My Pictures" which is in my documents... will they be there?

 

[Kuberr]

I think they'll be there, just you can't access them. It'll say something like not authorized. I think. Unfortunetely, I don't think you have much other choice. You might be able to. Who knows? I tried to recover my documents once I reinstalled XP, but to no avail.

 

[cheeseman222]

I guess i have to try anyways. I'm following these instructions for reinstalling http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm but once i get to step 6 right after it restarts my computer i just get a blank black screen. Anyone know what i can do about this?

Edit: also after i tell it toi repair i get the message "setup has already attempted to upgrade to the following windows installation.... to retry upgrading to winxp press enter, to install a fresh copy without repairing press escape, will installing fresh copy lose all my stuff?