My computer has been running stablily for a while, but it suddenly couldn't boot up as expected last night. As the computer contains lots of important data, I couldn't format it and reinstall WinXP again. Please kindly offer me a hand~~ Background - OS: Windows XP - Accounts: Three accounts were setup within XP, namely Administrator, User1, and User2. - Profile: Each user has a set of data stored under C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\, and these files are restricted to be accessed by the specific user. ie, only User1 can access the files under "C:\Documents and Settings\User1\My Documents\", while other users cannot. Scenario - No error message was prompted whenever I switch on the computer. - Right after it counts the RAM and so on, a blank screen is displayed. - The computer cannot be booted up even in Safe Mode. Again, there is no error message. Problem - I cannot start up the computer with Windows XP * Worst of all, I cannot backup the IMPORTANT data stored in the restricted directories as mentioned above. Therefore I cannot format the hard-disk, nor reinstall Windows XP (as according to the MS KB, reinstalling Windows XP may cause a lose of data) May I know how I can solve the problem please? Many many many thanks!!! Regards, Cherie

Hi Cherie, Is the HD FAT or NTFS? M2

Hi M2, it should be NTFS. Thanks!

Hi Cherie, In the case the simplest and safest way is to put the HD in another PC running w2k or XP and save the files there. Is this an option for you? M2

Hi M2, Thanks a lot for your suggestion. do you mean I can plug the harddisk of the problematic computer, and copy the files to another XP/Windows 2000 computer? Will the access right persist if I plug the HDD to another computer? Many thanks for your help! Cherie

Hi Cherie, 1. Yes that's right. 2. Not sure but the host machine, if logged in as admin, should be able to access any files on your drive. Worst case create user 'Cherie' [or whatever] on the host and log in. If neither you nor the helper is familiar with drive setups, be aware that your HD needs to be 'down the chain' so that the host boots it's own primary drive. And be aware that depending on the drives / partitions involved, the drive letters may not be as expected. We can get into more detail, but hopefully you can figure it out. M2

please go to support.microsoft.com and search for take ownership file folder xp. I believe it is 308421, so slave the drive recover the data then take ownership of the data.or take ownership of the files then recover the data.