Re:
Hello,
ok...you can do two things:
The safest: take your current Hard Drive out from your PC and hook it up into another PC, on slave. Then it's simply a case of drag and drop.
The next method: You have a Compaq right? Do you have recovery discs? There should be a non-desctructive recovery you can do if you have these Compaq Recovery CDs. Even so, you'd need to move all your wanted file into one folder...placed directly into the root of yout drive (like c:/folder/). Reason being is because the clever peeps at Compaq though that it be a good idea for a non-destructive recovery to restore the primary user account to factory settings. Might not do this in your setup, however it's best to copy the files to the folder anyway, so you have like an image. This method should only erase and restore Windows XP system files- not personally created files.
Oh, there is another thing: You could use a Windows XP Home / Professional Installation CD (depending on your version) to do a repair. It's the same as the Compaq Non-Destructive Recovery, except not OEM styled, but Microsoft. It only erases and restores Windows XP system files- not personally created files.
The first method should ideally be done. It's always wise to backup your data first this way, incase the worst happens.
