Aloha!
When I woke up this morning... Vista would not load.

1. It automatically goes into the Startup Repair mode, and that has no effect.
2. The System restore does not restore back to a point earlier in time.
3. Within the System Recovery Options, there is no option to open a command prompt.

- I would love to view/copy my files from C: drive to an external hard drive.
- I do not have the original OS disk(s).

Is there a way that I can get Windows to open?
Or, is there a way to open a command prompt and save my files remaining on C:?
Or, is there a way to do this from BIOS?
Or, is there a way to run an OS from a boot disk, yet view/copy my files from C:?

Oh, woe is me. TIA for any insight whatsoever.
Cheers,
~D

I'll see if I can help you on this, but I could do with additional details.

1. Have you tried to boot-up in safe mode, if so what error message did you get?

2. When using System Restore, again, did you receive an error message when it failed?

3. Do you leave your computer on overnight and is windows update scheduled to update and install updates automatically?

Mahalo!
Thanks for your help.

The answer to retrieving files thought gone with the wind lies with KNOPPIX.

After some research, and helpful tips, I went to:
http://lifehacker.com/software/disk-...-cd-192982.php

It worked like a charm! :-)

To answer the above questions:
1. Safe mode wouldn't boot unfortunately, and would give no error msg.
2. Same with Sys Restore, just saying that it could not restore.
3. Sometimes, and yes it was set to that.

Basically, I could not get Windows or a cmd prompt to open. I downloaded KNOPPIX and ran it from a boot CD, after config in BIOS to boot from CD.

Amazing!

Fantasdtic, glad you got it sorted, thanks for the update.

Knoppix wins another battle! Huzzah!