My computer won’t bootup, how do I do a recovery without losing data?

Question by charlie1138: My computer won’t bootup, how do I do a recovery without losing data?
I have a Hewlett Packard media center computer and it has a problem booting up.. I heard there is a way to reinstall windows on the “factory image” partition and not lose all the data on my harddrives.. how do I find directions to do this? I have backup recovery disks (3 DVDs I burned), not a Vista installation disk.

Best answer:

Answer by mayckoll_quintale
Actually, when you boot your Windows (no HDD, I mean, CD/DVD) it start loading some files, if it’s Windows XP you can press F2 to do an automated system recovery, after they load, you can enter on console to try to repair it manually, if you still couldn’t do a good system recovery, you can re-install your Windows without formatting, but doing this might make you lose everything you have on the “Documents and Settings” folder, but the rest of your HDD will be there, although the registry will be broken down (actually they get erased and you’ll have them like first time you formatted) it might not recognize software you’ve installed, others will.

Hope this helps.

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