[face=Geneva][/face]
So, apparently someone I work with infected my laptop (XP op sys) last week.
Now, I am stuck in a never ending rebooting nightmare.
I've run the diagnostivs, reinstalled the drivers and still cannot get windows to boot even in safe mode - nor using "last safe configurations".
There has to be a way to activate the system restore option of the XP system without initiating the entire windows arena, or am I hallucinating?
Please help, I'm currently house bound and working on the desktop is not very pleasant at the moment.
Thanks for the help. 8)

   As far as I know, you are hallucinating.  You would think that Windows would have a way to restore Restore Points outside of Windows but I am not aware of it.  In fact if you reinstall Windows, it will delete all of your old Restore Points.
   XP Recovery CD Maker (http://www.superwin.com/xp-recovery-cd/index.htm) makes a boot CD (it can be made on a different computer) that can restore the registry part of the Restore Points if they are available outside of Windows.

;D Thanks, its always good to know that I'm not imagingin my hallucinations.
Next question - I've read things online that indicate a conflict between defrag/virus programs and XP that may result in what sounds like the "boot loop" I'm having.
Is there a way to disable MacAfee and XP's defrag in DOS to see if that may be the culprit?
Again, thanks for the assist to the infirm!

   Holding down on the Shift key while Windows is starting is supposed to keep programs from starting, but defrag/virus (I assume you meant antivirus) programs may start in other ways that the Shift key does not affect.  If the Shift key does not work, you will need to contact the program's support staff and ask them how to disable their program.

Boot from the XP CD, go through the normal setup rigamarole, when you get to the options list press the R key, if it asks for a password press enter and when you get to the command line type fixmbr and agree to what you are asked and see if that help you,

Type exit when the process is finished.

Joe

When you say "rebooting nightmare" do you mean that your computer keeps rebooting?  If so, installing WinXP Service Pack 3 has caused this in many computers.  Is this possibly your problem?

There is a lot of information available on the Internet regarding the cause of this problem and the solution.  One such site is here:

http://msinfluentials.com/blogs/jesper/archive/2008/05/08/does-your-amd-based-computer-boot-after-installing-xp-sp3.aspx  

Laverne

Posting the site again for help with Win XP SP3 problem of rebooting:

http://tinyurl.com/6zs52d

Laverne