in desperate need of help (can you boot straight to DOS from windows XP?)

[mnkyspnk5w]

please help:

I installed Norton SystemWorks 2002 the other day and now I can't start Windows. It boots fine and then once you try and do anything in Windows, it freezes.

Anyway, I have two HDD's set up, one operational, the other storage.

On the operational HDD is still some very valuable information that I had yet to back-up/move to the storage.

So, I was thinking that if there's some way I can boot to MS-DOS and copy files from one drive to the other, then I'll happily format my operational HDD and start over.

Somehow, NOW Windows XP thinks that I'm in the middle of an installation of Windows XP and has limited my ability to get back to the regular desktop.

Here's what I've tried in the meantime:
-i tried this boot disk from microsoft. the problem is that it won't take you to the command prompt. It offers a "Safe Mode with Command Prompt" but that reverts back to the installation mentioned above because it doesn't think that the installation has been completed and thus you can't get to "Safe Mode" to access the command prompt.
-i tried a windows 98 boot disk. It doesn't allow me to access the files on my operational HDD.
-i tried a windows 98 boot disk sans everything except command.com , io.sys , and msdos.sys per a website that said that it would work as a boot disk

please please help

thanks

 

[Derango]

XP has a recovery console which can be entered by booting with the XP Cd in the drive and choosing the repair option. There is no pure dos mode in XP though. recovery console is as close as it gets.

The 98 bootdisks probably won't work because, if you're using XP, you're probably using NTFS, which the 98 disks don't support.

 

[mnkyspnk5w]

when using the recovery console it only lets me play in the

c:\windows directory

is there any way to access the other files on the c:\ drive?

(tried cd\ , tried c:\ , ...) f:\ drive is completely accessible though (my other HDD)

thanks

EDIT: my access to f: is also "denied"

 

[Derango]

Weird...I've never had that problem...its always let me leave the C:/windows directory...hmmm...