Ultimate Boot CD

I have a compaq presario v3018cl that i got as a gift from my mom. It's been working great but last friday I tried to go to windows and got a funky message about the windows/system32/config/software file is missing.

I read the MSKB for this problem and there is a solution. However, the solution is not for oem computers. Every solution I've found on the net isn't either. I contacted compaq and they have their own special recovery cd. I almost bought it for $23. The problem is that all this disk will do is reinstall winxp home. The disk doesn't recover anything. My class notes are on there and I will need them for finals. Deleting the drive isnt an option because of my homework and because I don't have the disks or manuals!

I know the data is ok on my drive. All I need right now is to maybe transfer my .docs to flash drive and I'll be ok through dos. So, I found this site. I bought a cdrw and made a bootable UBCD. It looks like a great collection of tools but I have no idea how to use any of them. Is there anything on this cd that could help me get my homework?

So sorry this post is long.

Try launching FreeDOS, then mount your USB memory stick and NTFS partition (assuming your partition is NTFS). If all goes well, and you can see both, then you can simply copy files from your NTFS partition to your USB memory stick.

There are two potential pitfalls here: where FreeDOS can mount your USB memory stick, and whether FreeDOS can mount your NTFS partition. One or both might fail.

Another possibility is to stick an IDE HDD to your machine, then run NTFS4DOS to mount your NTFS partition and copy files over to the IDE HDD. NTFS4DOS is better at mounting NTFS partitions, but it won't be able to mount your USB memory stick.

Finally, if all else fails, you can try obtaining a copy of PuppyLinux (or equivalent Linux LiveCD) to mount your USB memory stick and NTFS partition, then perform the file copy.

Hi,

How did you solve this problem? Was you able to keep your accounts and data on the org. HDD.
I've received the same error. Laptop sony vaio. The recovery discs don't work. Checksum error.

please tell me because me too have school data on the disc that I need to recover.

thx Sharky