i cant see anything on my screen apart from the desktop background (pic of an orange ST4).

i'm going to format the whole lot but wouldnt mind saving a few files first, what would the file path be, say, for the @my documents@ folder?

C:/my documents ?

i know i'm wrong can someone help me out? PLease?

It'll likely be c:\documents and settings\your user name\My Documents

If you can get at the "run" menu then "cmd" will open a command line so you can hunt around, or even "explorer.exe" might bring up an explorer window.

"c:\documents and settings\<username>\my documents" is where to go looking, anyway…

thanks i'll give it a go if this fails. just out of interest once i'm in CMD what can i type in there to look around?

If you've damaged the disc by dropping it, it's better to replace it with a new one and mount the old one in an external caddy to attempt to recover stuff

Oh – you really don't know DOS commands at all then?

DIR gives you a directory listing
DIR /W makes it a bit more readable
CD is the Change Directory command

Best get googling….

Use the 'Dir' command to bring up a list of files.

You will need to navigate to the My Documents folder first!

(Too late!!)

Can you not ctrl-alt-del and do "new task" then type in "explorer" – this usually brings up the window manager (taskbar, windows, icons etc) and from there you can fix it somehow.

ok i've just finisher trying to repair it with a different windows disk. It's now telling me the following:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the original Setup CD-ROM. Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair

Which would be fine if i had the original windows disk…..

Have i stuffed it?

Probably, the repair will copy files from the XP cd and then ask for the key of the new CD (I am assuming that this is what you did)!

Problem is that the CD you have used is probably registered to another PC.

I would try to find the original CD and repair from this.

The CD should be fine if it's the same version, discs aren't registered to specific machines

You may want to consider a 'XP Repair Install'

http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Time for ubuntu?

http://www.ubuntu.com/

I went through this a while back, only to find my XP CD-ROM was cracked and Dell bless them, wanted £70 for a replacement.

ubuntu could be another option to consider.

Ready for this 😆
# Accessibility Controls : access.cpl
# Accessibility Wizard : accwiz
# Add Hardware Wizard : hdwwiz.cpl
# Add/Remove Programs : appwiz.cpl
# Administrative Tools control : admintools
# Adobe Acrobat (if installed) : acrobat
# Adobe Designer (if installed) : acrodist
# Adobe Distiller (if installed) : acrodist
# Adobe ImageReady (if installed) : imageready
# Adobe Photoshop (if installed) : photoshop
# Automatic Updates : wuaucpl.cpl
# Bluetooth Transfer Wizard : fsquirt
# Calculator : calc
# Certificate Manager : certmgr.msc
# Character Map : charmap
# Check Disk Utility : chkdsk
# Clipboard Viewer : clipbrd
# Command Prompt : cmd
# Component Services : dcomcnfg
# Computer Management : compmgmt.msc
# Control Panel : control
# Date and Time Properties : timedate.cpl
# DDE Shares : ddeshare
# Device Manager : devmgmt.msc
# Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)* : directx.cpl
# Direct X Troubleshooter : dxdiag
# Disk Cleanup Utility : cleanmgr
* Disk Defragment : dfrg.msc
* Disk Management : diskmgmt.msc
* Disk Partition Manager : diskpart
* Display Properties control : desktop
* Display Properties : desk.cpl
* Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected) control : color
* Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility : drwtsn32
* Driver Verifier Utility : verifier
* Event Viewer : eventvwr.msc
* Files and Settings Transfer Tool : migwiz
* File Signature Verification Tool : sigverif
* Findfast : findfast.cpl
* Firefox (if installed) : firefox
* Folders Properties control : folders
* Fonts control : fonts
* Fonts Folder : fonts
* Free Cell Card Game : freecell
* Game Controllers : joy.cpl
* Group Policy Editor (XP Prof) : gpedit.msc
* Hearts Card Game : mshearts
* Help and Support : helpctr
* HyperTerminal : hypertrm
* Iexpress Wizard : iexpress
* Indexing Service : ciadv.msc
* Internet Connection Wizard : icwconn1
* Internet Explorer : iexplore
* Internet Properties : inetcpl.cpl
* Internet Setup Wizard : inetwiz
* IP Configuration (Display Connection Configuration) : ipconfig /all
* IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents) : ipconfig /displaydns
* IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents) : ipconfig /flushdns
* IP Configuration (Release All Connections) : ipconfig /release
* IP Configuration (Renew All Connections) : ipconfig /renew
* IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & Re-Registers DNS) : ipconfig /registerdns
* IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID) : ipconfig /showclassid
* IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID) : ipconfig /setclassid
* Java Control Panel (If Installed) : jpicpl32.cpl
* Java Control Panel (If Installed) : javaws
* Keyboard Properties control : keyboard
* Local Security Settings : secpol.msc
* Local Users and Groups : lusrmgr.msc
* Logs You Out Of Windows : logoff
* Malicious Software Removal Tool : mrt
* Microsoft Access (if installed) : access.cpl
* Microsoft Chat : winchat
* Microsoft Excel (if installed) : excel
* Microsoft Frontpage (if installed) : frontpg
* Microsoft Movie Maker : moviemk
* Microsoft Paint : mspaint
* Microsoft Powerpoint (if installed) : powerpnt
* Microsoft Word (if installed) : winword
* Microsoft Syncronization Tool : mobsync
* Minesweeper Game : winmine
* Mouse Properties control : mouse
* Mouse Properties : main.cpl
* Nero (if installed) : nero
* Netmeeting : conf
* Network Connections control : netconnections
* Network Connections : ncpa.cpl
* Network Setup Wizard : netsetup.cpl
* Notepad : notepad
* Nview Desktop Manager (If Installed) : nvtuicpl.cpl
* Object Packager : packager
* ODBC Data Source Administrator : odbccp32.cpl
* On Screen Keyboard : osk
* Opens AC3 Filter (If Installed) : ac3filter.cpl
* Outlook Express : msimn
* Paint : pbrush
* Password Properties : password.cpl
* Performance Monitor : perfmon.msc
* Performance Monitor : perfmon
* Phone and Modem Options : telephon.cpl
* Phone Dialer : dialer
* Pinball Game : pinball
* Power Configuration : powercfg.cpl
* Printers and Faxes control : printers
* Printers Folder : printers
* Private Character Editor : eudcedit
* Quicktime (If Installed) : QuickTime.cpl
* Quicktime Player (if installed) : quicktimeplayer
* Real Player (if installed) : realplay
* Regional Settings : intl.cpl
* Registry Editor : regedit
* Registry Editor : regedit32
* Remote Access Phonebook : rasphone
* Remote Desktop : mstsc
* Removable Storage : ntmsmgr.msc
* Removable Storage Operator Requests : ntmsoprq.msc
* Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof) : rsop.msc
* Scanners and Cameras : sticpl.cpl
* Scheduled Tasks control : schedtasks
* Security Center : wscui.cpl
* Services : services.msc
* Shared Folders : fsmgmt.msc
* Shuts Down Windows : shutdown
* Sounds and Audio : mmsys.cpl
* Spider Solitare Card Game : spider
* SQL Client Configuration : cliconfg
* System Configuration Editor : sysedit
* System Configuration Utility : msconfig
* System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately) : sfc /scannow
* System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot) : sfc /scanonce
* System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot) : sfc /scanboot
* System File Checker Utility (Return to Default Setting) : sfc /revert
* System File Checker Utility (Purge File Cache) : sfc /purgecache
* System File Checker Utility (Set Cache Size to size x) : sfc /cachesize=x
* System Information : msinfo32
* System Properties : sysdm.cpl
* Task Manager : taskmgr
* TCP Tester : tcptest
* Telnet Client : telnet
* Tweak UI (if installed) : tweakui
* User Account Management : nusrmgr.cpl
* Utility Manager : utilman
* Windows Address Book : wab
* Windows Address Book Import Utility : wabmig
* Windows Backup Utility (if installed) : ntbackup
* Windows Explorer : explorer
* Windows Firewall : firewall.cpl
* Windows Magnifier : magnify
* Windows Management Infrastructure : wmimgmt.msc
* Windows Media Player : wmplayer
* Windows Messenger : msmsgs
* Windows Picture Import Wizard (need camera connected) : wiaacmgr
* Windows System Security Tool : syskey
* Windows Update Launches : wupdmgr
* Windows Version (to show which version of windows) : winver
* Windows XP Tour Wizard : tourstart
* Wordpad : write

Sorry ,i know its a long list ,but he did ask 😳