I tried to delete the folder after deleting the entry in the boot.inni file, but it still got stuck with "cannot delete flash" as previously stated.

With that entry removed in the boot.inni file, and the windows cd inserted the startup is so quick, it does not even wait the 5 seconds to boot from cd anymore. I tried to catch it by tapping the space bar continually but it does not catch the cd boot.

Thank you David for spending your time on this, I do appreciate it.

If only I can do a back up of the stuff that my fried don't want to loose, but it seems when in safe mode, the writable CD in the deck is not recognized that it is there, as it keeps on telling me "insert cd" And the usb ports does not recognize a flash memory stick in safemode, as it only tells me "usb device found" "unknown" and does not show up in My Computer.

Is there any other way that I can do a back up of his files, as I think that maybe a format of the hard drive with a clean installation looks like the (last) (only?) option left?

David, or maybe you have some more suggestions to try first?

Hi, to save the files you might need to slave another drive into the pc. or alternately taking that drive and slaving it to another pc. damn be so much easier if I was there. But you could try plugging the usb drive and booting the computer then go to control panel Administrative tools, then computer management, storage and then removable storage. See if the drive is seen there and initialise it.

Will get back to later if I have anymore ideas.
Dave

Hi David

Thank you so much for helping. I managed to use the harddrive as a slave of an old pc I have, and managed to back up all the important files onto my older pc's harddrive. I must say, that this was the first time I have worked with the actual hardware of a pc, and was studying various articles on this, before I attempted to remove the hard drive, set it as a slave, and inserted it into the other pc. I feel very knowledgeable now regarding making a slave drive of a hard drive. There are good video tutorials on this if anyone needs to do this like I have for the first time. Google knows everything!

After saving all files, I re-inserted the drive as the main drive back into the case of my friends pc, inserted the windows xp cd and booted from the cd, and deleted the partition where this two xp's were installed, created a new partition, formatted the partition, and re-installed a fresh copy of windows xp.

I'm sitting here, now very happy, as the fresh install went without any problems, ( device manager only shows two drivers that I need to go and search for to install) but those 2 drivers is not important right now, as I am connected with this pc now to the internet, downloading and installing the updates from Microsoft, updating to service pack 2.

I feel great relief, as the pc boots up fine now, with the new installation, and when I'm done with the updates and re- installed office and some anti virus software, I will slave my old hard drive to this pc, to recover my friends files back onto it.

Daniweb is one of the best forums for help, and I'm sure I will be able to help someone soon, with all the knowledge I gain here.

Thanks again David!

Try this, once your in on safe mode, go to system restore and retore to last checkmarked spot on pc's calender (this is why its important to regularly add new retore points). To get to system restore go to Start > All programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore .