First of all, the problem is with Windows XP, -Right?
Second, you need to find tech people who know what they are doing.
Third, any major changes to your system must be preceded by a system backup to external media. Otherwise, trysting to undo a change is very hard.
The remainder of this post is mostly about a new install and not repairBoth PCs are desktops? Both have DVD drives? USB ports?
OK? If yes, here iis a general outline of how to recover Windows XP.
Begin dictation.You should have available some type of external storage device. If not, you need to free up some disk space on the working computer so you can save your important documents, videos and photos. Once you have backed up your personal material then you can proceed to try to repair or reinstall Windows XP system.
At some point you'll need to recover the product key for your windows XP installation. A possible exception is for some OEM versions that were preinstalled at the factory. If you to not have the product key, your new installation of windows XP will only last for 30 days.
In your case you want to use the windows XP Pro version to try to repair the system. If not available, you could try using the Windows home XP to make a new installation.
In any case, there's no guarantee you can repair or recover the existing installation. The amount of time it takes to do that, if possible, may even exceed the amount of time it takes to do a fresh installation of windows XP Pro on the troubled machine. Personally, if there is a lot of facile I like to just start with a fresh install and get the needed updates later online.
Of course, at some point, you'll need to have an antivirus program installed. Hopefully, you won't get a virus attack while doing the installation. The basic installation should not require access to the Internet. Windows XP will install suitable drivers for most devices on your system without having access to the Internet.
Now about a backup method for your personal files. Actually, that is the part you have to do first, but I was trying to do a quick summary of what the steps are so you would understand what's going on here.
The backup can be done with one of the backup utilities that will boot off of a DVD, CD or USB. One that I use is by a company called Esaus. The product is called Todo Backup. You can get it for personal use from their website.
Using the working computer, prepare a bootable disk using the instructions you get from the TodoBbackup program.
Once you have that disk prepared you will put it in the trouble computer and try to boot from the DVD drive. You may have to change a setting in the B IOS to get it to come up. Alternatively, there is an option to use an USB flash drive.
Once up and running, the backup program will let you make copies of files to an external device. The external device can be a USB flash drive or a hard drive that runs off of the USB port or even a portable DVD burner. If using a DVD burner, you might want to use the R/W discs so that you can use them over again at a later time. I believe there is also an option to do a backup over your local ethernet connection to your working computer. That will require you to have a shared folder on the working computer.
Now about the installation of windows XP Pro. There's not really much to it. Read the instructions very carefully on the startup screens. At one point there is an option to repair a partition that has the current operating system. That might work and it may be worth a try. It does not do any damage to try it. I mean to say, no more damage than what you already have. I don't think this is really a hard drive issue, rather a clumsy attempt by someone else to clean up your system and destroy files that were needed.
To make this easier on myself, this is being done by voice dictation. That saves me time and gives you a longer more detailed post.
Installation instructions for Windows XP Pro are available online at various sites and you shouldn't have any trouble with it. If you think you need a pure clean installation, ask windows XP to format the disk in the NTFS format and then install the operating system. Bear in mind, once you have formatted the drive there is almost no chance of ever getting your data back. That is why you have already copied your documents and photos over to another media or to the other computer.
Once you have Windows XP Pro up and running you will still have 30 days before the activation is needed. However, in many versions of Windows XP Pro you have to have the product key before you can proceed. So look around and see if you can locate the product key before you do anything.
Important note. If the old system is running at all, for example in safe mode, you may be able to find the product key by using a third-party software that locates the product key for you. If you need help with this please say so.
Once a new install of Windows XP is up and running, you will need to install some drivers for the hardware. There may be a resource for this. If you don't have a CD with the driver software on it, you'll have to go to the manufacturer site and download the set of drivers for windows XP and your specific computer model.
Now once you got the windows XP professional running and it appears to be stable, you can then install your application files, such as Microsoft Word or office or other programs you have bought separately from your computer. The only practical way to recover most commercial software is to simply reinstall the software over again. Trying to copy it from another computer is very difficult or even impossible. So that is why it's important to keep the original discs and product registration information for all software you purchase.
If there's anything you don't understand, please ask can either myself or some other member of computer hope will jump in and give you some help with your Windows XP problem.
