Windows XP Home will not boot in safe mode

[HardDriveHeadache]

Okay - so my laptop died a few days ago, after much testing I have determined it is the motherboard.  I have since removed the hard drive and used an enclosure to access it on other computers.  When I tried to view my info from another computer it told me "Access Denied".  So, I boot my other laptop in Safe Mode and took ownship of the folders, and restarted my computer.

I was still unable to view my folders.  I tried to return to Safe Mode to make sure I had completed taking ownership correctly, but it will not let me back in.  I did all this within a 10 min. span and I can see no reason why I shouldn't be able to get into Safe Mode. 

At this point, I am about to spend $100 to get data back-up and restore the hard drive but i DON'T WANT TO DO THAT!!  I need this info. ASAP for work (my IT guy doesn't know what to do).

Help??

Thanks!

[dairyman]

Welcome to the Computer Hope Forum.

You need to turn of Simple File Sharing.
To do this, click on Start and go to My Computer. Click on Tools and click on Folder Options. On the View tab, uncheck "Use simple file sharing (recommended)"

If that does not work:
In normal mode, click on Start > Run and type in regsvr32 /i shell32.dll.
It will take a few seconds but after that all should be OK.
Guys, thanks for your help when I received Access Denied. Please note that I could open folders now, however, some folders still don't open. I apologize to everyone who helped me with my 'problem'.

[HardDriveHeadache]

Thanks for that info.  I tried that but still can't boot in safe mode.  Other thoughts?

[dairyman]

Take a look at this document:

Unable to get into Windows safe mode.

[HardDriveHeadache]

I know I am getting into safe mode properly because I have done it several times.  The only "new hardware" is the external hard drive.  Could windows become corrupted in the 5 minutes between boots?

[Broni]

Can you get into Safe Mode WITHOUT old HD attached?

[HardDriveHeadache]

nope.  i have tried it with and without.

[Broni]

How about System Restore?

[HardDriveHeadache]

will that make me lose my info on my computer?

[Broni]

No....
Some freshly installed programs may not work, because some registry entries will be rolled back.
But data, NO!

[HardDriveHeadache]

system restore did not work either...I restored back to 1 week ago.

[dairyman]

Could windows become corrupted in the 5 minutes between boots?

Did you receive errors during the installation of XP?