I had some trouble with my sound driver and in the process of trying to fix it I discovered that I could not get system restore or safe mode to work. If I click on sys restore I get nothing and when I try safe mode I just get a loop back to the options screen. I have the driver problem fixed and I can get into windows with no problem. Any idea how to fix sys restore and safe mode?

jwinner1, I had the same trouble with system restore a long time ago, the only way I managed to fix that was by reformatting at a later date, as for safe mode, when your computer is booting up have you tried clicking F8 repeatedly? that normally boots a system directly into safe mode.

Try this. If you need to reinstall WindowsXP and want to keep all your current installed applications and settings: 1. Start WindowsXP 2. Go to the location of your source files 3. Run WINNT32 /unattend For example, D:\I386\winnt32 /unattend ( copy & paste this command into the RUN box, then press ENTER ) Your computer will do the rest.

Thanks for the advice guys- I was hopig for something less drastic than a reinstall but if it comes to that I will have to bite the bullet.

If you have Nero-- Cannot get into Safe-Mode caused by Nero http://www.computing.net/windowsxp/wwwboard/forum/123336.html For if no Safe-Mode: How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP

See if this fixes anything-- Try System File Checker: Open the Command Prompt, then type: sfc /scannow note space between the c and / Have XP CD in your drive. Information about SFC

Thanks for the replies - Chuck2 your suggestion about Nero updates did restore my safe mode and from there I can choose system restore- I can live with that. Thanks to all.