Our old computer crashed, but it has programs and photos I need to take from it.  I am about to buy your Windows XP recovery download, but at this point am unsure if it will work.

The F8 options, such as Go back to the last settings that worked, do absolutely nothing.  It always shuts down with a fatal error. I have found a way to get a command prompt to come up, where I could enter DOS commands, but I don't know what commands to input.

The answer on Microsoft are so complex that I get totally lost in the maze.

Can your program help in this situation?  Is anyone aware of DOS commands I could type in?

Thanks,
Paul

Iwent ahead and bought the XP recovery program, but unfortunately the computer does not respond to it at all.  It just goes through its usual cycle back to the blue screen.  I can reach a "c" prompt, but it recognizes no command.  Just before shutting down the computer tells me it cannot find the autocheck.

I searched Microsoft re the fatal system error c000021a   Status 0xc000003a, but the article was of no help.

I do not blame your program.  It probably works OK on normal computers.  It appears I may need to give up on retrieving information from our old one.  And yes, I do need to provide for backup of my files on this new one.

Any feedback would still be appreciated, if anyone has had experience recovering from a total crash.

Oh, and by the way, since the above is so negative:  it's a beautiful day!  God has his purposes for it all, and I can live without any and all technology!

Thanks,
Paul

   I take it that you are talking about the XP Recovery CD not working.  That is either because the error is occuring before the computer has a chance to boot up to the CD (I would think that would be unlikely) or because your computer is not set up to boot from the CD before it boots from the C drive.  You can change that in the BIOS settings.  When you start your computer it should tell you what keys to press in order to enter Settings or BIOS (or whatever else they may call it).  In BIOS you can change the order of boot.  The CD drive should boot before C drive.
   I do know DOS commands.  DOS commands in Windows XP are very limited.
  

When I searched the Microsoft database with the error you gave and got an article about the Roxio GoBack program.
Did you not have this program installed [it's also included in Norton SystemWorks]?

Were you unable to start the computer in safe mode?

What program did you use to get the DOS prompt? This would tell you what commands you would be able to use.

The article that came up when I searched was:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316503/en-us

Thanks to you both!  I appreciate all suggestions.

1.  I used the same program that probably caused the crash in the first place:  "System Mechanic 6."  If I let it do its system check, it tells me it found no problems (!), then takes me to the "c" prompt, but with no instructions.  The system does not recognize any commands, like chkdsk or chkdsk/r or any others I tried to input.

2.  I do have Norton Go Back on that computer, but of course cannot access it now.

3.  I cannot boot up in Safe Mode; it always goes back to the blue screen, as described above.  The same for Go Back to the Last Settings that Worked.

4.  Ray, yes, it goes immediately to boot up Windows XP from the C drive, rather than from the CD.  That is, it displays a normal screen showing XP trying to start.  However, I am unable to access BIOS settings; that is, no choices or instructions are displayed.  UNLESS there is another F key I could press while it boots up  (I only know about the F8 key).  Your advice at this point will help....thanks.

P.S.  Yes, the XP Recovery CD is the one I downloaded.

Two things that might help.

The delete key at bootup seems to be the choice on most motherboards to access the BIOS now. Some older m/b also used F2 or the escape key.

In the Microsoft article link above, it said you could access GoBack's menu options by hitting the space key during the start up process. It says to then disable GoBack and the computer will boot up.
According to the article this problem is caused by GoBack and it should be uninstalled.

   From what I hear GoBack does some drastic things to your computer (like, create a hidden partition) and doesn't always do it flawlessly.

Well any rate, I have learned the importance of backing up important files.  (for next time)

I tried the space bar thing again, just to make sure, but it does not allow me to disable GoBack.  It does provide some re-booting options, both of which go right back to the blue screen.

I was, however, able to get to the BIOS screen.  The CD ROM drive is already at the top of the list, but I still cannot boot up the XP recovery disc.

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I haven't given up yet!

   There must have been an error when you created the CD.  If you create the CD without errors, it will work.

Yes, I did make another CD already, but still no result.  Is there another key I can press while booting up that will help?

Thanks,
Paul

   If the CD is a bootable CD (which XP Recovery CD is, if you made it with no errors), your computer will see that and either ask you if you want to run it (giving you a few seconds to decide) or just run it.  There are no keys to press.

Since I am totally new to burning CD's, here are the basics of what I did:

Using a Memorex  re-writable CD, I put it in the drive and simply followed the steps as the computer led me along (this computer also has Windows XP).    When the process was finished,  the drive opened by itself and released the CD.  I did two separate CD's to make sure I did it right.

Perhaps the crash has gone deeper than Windows XP itself, and affected the basic operation of the whole computer.  

At this point I am ready to give up.  I will lose a lot of photos, and one file of important financial information that I am hoping to reconstruct at least approximately.  Other files lost are less important.  And I have gained valuable lessons about the importance of backing up.

Thanks to all of you who gave input to this problem!

   XP Recovery CD Maker uses PEBuilder to burn the CD.  If after burning the CD, PEBuilder has the arrow buttons enabled, there was an error.  The arrow buttons take you to the error notices.

Since I am still basically computer illiterate, I don't have the knowledge to understand the above.  I encountered no error messages while burning the CD.

When I open the "E" drive on the computer that burned the CD, it tells me I have "bootcdxr" on that disk.  I see no arrow buttons there.

Looking in Properties, I see that it is "read only," and that it was built using "Inno Setup."

You say "I will lose a lot of photos", but don't despair of them yet! If you are buying a new computer, it may be (proabably is) the case that the hard disk in the old machine is still in working order as far as reading files is concerned, even though it doesn't work any more as a system disk. Much depends on how competent you feel about opening the cases of the two machines. You could do as I did when faced with a comparable situation, and install your old disk in the new machine as a slave, though you may need a cable that will connect to both disks if it doesn't already have one. You will also have to move the jumper on the old disk to make it work as slave instead of master. When you restart the computer, it should recognise both drives straight away, allowing you access to all your old files. Another approach would be to buy an external disk caddy, in which you fit your old disk (leaving the jumper set to master) and plug it into a USB port on your new machine. You will still be able to see your old files, though the transfer speed is likely to be slower. If all else fails, do you have any knowledgeable friends who could help you with fitting the old disk onto the new computer? Maybe someone you know already has a caddy and would let you borrow it or use it on his/her machine. I do suggest, however, that you scan the old disk, as soon as you get to see it again in "My Computer" or Windows Explorer, with an up-to-date virus checker, just in case! I wish you success - it certainly worked well for me!

Paulito, If all else fails, you can remove your hard drive, and put it in an external USB 2.0 drive case, and remove any files, and programs you want. Using another computer, you can burn to CD, or move them to another hard drive. Works very well.

Thanks very much to you both! I really appreciate the help.

The technical information in both of these posts is beyond my understanding; however, I could, with someone's help, remove the hard drive and get information from it.  This would  be the best solution, since I do not actually need the old computer now.

Quoted from pendulum144 Paulito, If all else fails, you can remove your hard drive, and put it in an external USB 2.0 drive case, and remove any files, and programs you want. Using another computer, you can burn to CD, or move them to another hard drive. Works very well.

Thanks.  Checking into this further, I found where I can buy the case.  Since that computer is a few years old, can I assume that the 2.5 inch case would hold the hard disk?  It is much less expensive than the 3.5 inch one.

My sons can help me figure out how to remove the hard drive.

Thanks for patience with the computer illiterate.  :)

OK, today I have the time, so this will be Computer Moron Attacks Old Computer Day.  We even have some older ones taking up space, and hopefully I can remove hard drives and get rid of all the rest.

QUESTION:  What is the best way to get data from extremely old floppies?  Not the hard, 3.5 inch ones, but the large, flexible disks used in stone age computers.

Thanks to all who posted help in this thread.