Seek Windows Boot CD Advice

[rcw06]

My PC will not boot W2K Pro normally.

The PC has a dual boot setup (W2K Pro & XP x64 each on a separate HD). All files are accessible on the W2K drive from the XP drive. Depending on how I try to boot, the following error messages appear:

Following file is missing or corrupt: \winnt\system32\config\system

Following file is missing or corrupt: windows root\system32\ntoskrnl.exe

Following file is missing or corrupt: windows root\system32\hal.dll

I would like to recover the W2K system without losing any data if possible. Several companies advertise a “Windows Boot CD” and claim to normally boot any version of Windows (Win 95 to and including Win 7) that will not boot normally due to corrupt or missing files. Has anyone been successful using one of these boot CDs?

I prefer a CD rather than downloading a program.

Thanks for your help.

[traq]

Any time I've ever had to use a boot or recovery CD, on any version of Windows, I've had to do a complete recovery - it might work, but in my experience, it probably won't.

If your W2K files are accessible from the XP system, I'd strongly recommend backing them up from there (if you haven't already). After your data is safe, you'll find the recovery process to be far less stressful.