WindowsXP is @#%ed - how to burn CD from safe mode?

[sdsumike619]

My friend's computer is messed up (when you turn it on, it starts to boot to XP and then it reboots, over and over) I can only get into safe mode. I need to back up his stuff to a CD or DVD, but when I try to install Nero, it won't install. Is there some easy way that I can get his stuff onto a DVD while in safe mode? So that I can wipe this hard drive clean and start new?
Thanks

[Number Six]

Try ImgBurn - it might work in safe mode.

I just tried it - it does work in safe mode.

[sdsumike619]

Oh yeah?? cool, I will try that then.. It seemed like burning in safe mode was an issue because of some services that don't run in safe mode.. I'll try it too..

[zoobie]

you'll need to get the OS working properly anyway so ask in the link below

www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forums/

more than likely, you'll need to go into safe mode and get into the registry

[Po|arbeaR]

If your desperate why not go out and buy a 4gb flash drive they are like 20 bucks nowadays like a sandisk or someother make/model. It will work in safe mode and you can copy/paste onto it as need be. Sounds like a driver issue on your friends computer thats why you can get into safe mode and not into the regular OS, Ask your friend if he installed something recently or whats changed on the system just prior to this happening. Also might want to boot into safe more and disable automatic restart on error (im assuming your friends computer is running WindowsXP).

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/tipstricks/ht/disautorestart.htm

once you get the error you can troubleshoot it down (using google of course) to see why the computer won't boot normally.

Also also last but not least. Since you know how to get into safe mode, why not try the menu option (last known good configuration). This will look into the windows restore "snapshots" and try and boot the last good one.

Let us know of your progress.

-PB

[redwudz]

If the above good advice fails, you can also use a Linux live boot disc or a Windows PE disc. You can boot to one of them after you set the BIOS to a CDROM boot. It will give you full access to the computer to back up what files you need.

Usually, you can fix the problem by booting to a XP install disc and doing a 'repair' install. But I would try to back up my files first.

I use a Windows PE disc most times. Handy to have for future problems: http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

Or if you are familiar with Linux, a few options: http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php

[Ai Haibara]

Sounds suspiciously like the infamous SP3 reboot-loop problem. Has your friend had the system install any Windows updates recently, especially SP3? Is the system an HP with an AMD CPU?

[oldfart13]

Had this problem with an SP2 system that took the upgrades as well. After I did a repair from the repair partition I found out it could be fixed by taking the drive out of the computer and putting it into another working computer and running check disk on it with the repair option set (chkdsk /r or chkdsk /f)). The repair from the repair partion will set all your files and programs into a backup directory and install a new version of windows on the system. Of course, you will have to reinstall all your software but your data files will still be intact. If only I had known about the check disk options beforehand....