Installing XP twice on 2 separate partitions?

[freedomrains]

Is it possible to do this, I have removed a virus and now windows xp is rather damaged but can still log on, I'm trying to recover some files but the cd rom isn't recognized and I have no way of copying the files....If I create a new partition with a clean version of windows on it, can I access to old partition to copy the files to the new partition and further back them up onto CD , USB drive , etc... any help greatly appreciated....

 

[office politics]

i would rather try to fix the cdrom issue. what does device manager show for the cdrom drive? any clues in event viewer? delete & re-add driver?

alternatively, you could goto a working pc and copy the files then use sendspace.com to transfer to the broken pc.

 

[drougier]

You can boot up your machine with a Linux Live CD (like Ubuntu) and then copy the files you need into a USB key or in some place in the network (if it's available). Once the files has copied you can reinstall your OS again...

 

[freedomrains]

The driver is bad to the cd rom it has the yellow ! in device manager , I have no way adding the driver, the computer doesn't recognize any storage inputs usb cd rom, any other suggestions....wouldnt the linux way be more complicated than the partition method since i have no familiarity with linux or the cd.....