Computer is HP Pavillion, 733 mhz celeron processor with Windows XP Pro operating system. PC will not boot up after a power failure, it displays the "windows did not start successfully SCREEN" with 30 seconds to choose start up in safe mode or start up in normal mode. After choosing a mode it will boot up to a certain point then shut down and attempts to boot up again. I have tried both safe mode and normal mode without success. I don't have any of the install or backup DISKS.

Do I have any options other than reformatting hard drive and losing my files and PROGRAMS?
Can I put hard drive in another pc as a slave and try to correct problem?1) Boot to the XP CD and choose the first repair option, which will drop you at the recovery console. Once there, run chkdsk /r. When checkdisk completes, exit and see if you can boot. If not,

2) Boot to the XP CD and choose the SECOND repair option and do a repair install.Quote from: Allan on January 18, 2011, 12:59:59 PM

1) Boot to the XP CD and choose the first repair option, which will drop you at the recovery console. Once there, run chkdsk /r. When checkdisk completes, exit and see if you can boot. If not,

2) Boot to the XP CD and choose the SECOND repair option and do a repair install.

As long as it is the same version (Home/Pro) and service pack as is installed, yes.