Startup Problems

[Baalam]

Alright I don't really know much about this sort of stuff, so I'll try to explain my problem. When I try to start my laptop, on the black screen text appears under the heading of;

Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu
And it gives me four options:
1. Reboot Windows XP Home edition.
2. Recover Windows XP to first partition only.
3. Recover Windows XP to entire HD.
4. Recover Windows XP to entire HD with 2 partition.

I have no idea what this means, but I've tried the reboot option, and the next screen says:

Reboot to Windows XP Home
Please Wait
C:/PQER>_

And I've waited for up to fifteen minutes, but nothing has happened, so I'm forced to just turn it off. -And I'm worried I'm just damaging it further.

The other three options bring up a message mentioning stuff about Asus and partitions, and says something about removing data, so I've chosen to cancel instead of going ahead with it.

Please help because I've got no clue.

[Ant]

Did you get your computer new?

Did it come with a CDRom (or two) marked Restore Disk (or similar)?

It appears that the original seller thought to include Powerquest Easy Restore, which, in the event of a failure, will allow you to restore your computer to its original state.

Apparently, if you have the CD(s) you can do this, but you will lose any data/programs you added later.

[Baalam]

Yea i've only had it about a month, and I brought it through the school I go to, because I need it for my work. They set it up and all, so I don't really know much about it.

And yes I did find that disk. So what do you suggets I do? Just select the fourth option and then use the disk?

I'm just worried I'll lose all my work, I don't even know what happened to it.

[Ant]

Apparently, using the disk will overwrite anything you've done with the computer since you got it

I would suggest that you talk to the person at school in charge of selling the computers and see if they can recover your data before you use the restore disks.

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

You could try booting to a DOS floppy, copying your important files to another drive (e.g. D: ) and using the Restore CD to "Restore First Partition Only" afterwards.



And always remember to back-up your important data regularly.

[Baalam]

Alright then, I'll talk to him as soon as I can (several days).
I don't want to do it myself because I don't know what I'm doing.
Thanks for the help anyway.