By the subject line it might sound as if this should be in the Windows OS forums, but my question regards using Linux. Very recently one of the System 32 files got corrupted, so now I can't boot up at all. I have been told how to fix it, and know how, but I can't seem to get the right CD from anyone near me.

So I'm trying to make a backup plan. I have some important files that I would rather not lose, so just reformatting is out of the picture for now. But someone suggested to my brother that I load Linux onto the computer, then backup the files, and then reformat.

My questions to you all are: Will this work? and What Linux OS would work best for my predicament?

Everything on the computer works...except for the Win XP OS. All the space on my hard drive is partitioned in NTSF, also. I was reading one of the stickies, and it said it works better in FAT32, so I hope this isn't too much of a problem. Like I said though, I just need it to work well enough for me to burn some files to a cd, and that is it.

Any and all help is completely appreciated.

1.Put your hard drive in another computer,and set it as slave,then drag files off.

or

2.Use Bart`s PE method to fix the problem (That`s assuming the Bart`s CD will boot)

I feel your pain -- it happened to me. This is what I did to get my files off
a latop without opening the case and messing with the HD:

see this
http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic76094.html

Thank you, you two. I'm gonna go to my friend's house as soon as he gets home and try to use a Windows XP Media Center cd he has. Then Plan B will probably be the "Bart's PE method" and then try to figure out how to use Linux to do what I need it to do. I don't have an external HD, but I do have a couple MP3 players and some USB memory sticks. I'll probably just back up the files on those and or just burn some CD

Thanks again

Edit: Can anyone help me with some Bart's PE builder bugs? Sorry about this getting kinda off-topic.

"Error: SetupDecompressOrCopyFile() "E:\I386\ASMS\10\MSFT\WINDOWS\GDIPLUS\GDIPLUS.MAN" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\WINSXS\MANIFESTS\X86_MICROSOFT.WINDOWS.GDIPL US_6595B64144CCF1DF_1.0.2600.2180_X-WW_522F9F82.MANIFEST" 23: Data error (cyclic redundancy check).
DecompressOrCopy file "E:\I386\ASMS\10\MSFT\WINDOWS\GDIPLUS\GDIPLUS.CAT" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\WINSXS\MANIFESTS\X86_MICROSOFT.WINDOWS.GDIPL US_6595B64144CCF1DF_1.0.2600.2180_X-WW_522F9F82.CAT"
Error: SetupDecompressOrCopyFile() "E:\I386\ASMS\10\MSFT\WINDOWS\GDIPLUS\GDIPLUS.CAT" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\WINSXS\MANIFESTS\X86_MICROSOFT.WINDOWS.GDIPL US_6595B64144CCF1DF_1.0.2600.2180_X-WW_522F9F82.CAT" 999: Error performing inpage operation.
DecompressOrCopy file "e:\I386\asms\10\MSFT\WINDOWS\GDIPLUS\GdiPlus.dll" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.Windows.GdiPlus_6595b64 144ccf1df_1.0.2600.2180_x-ww_522f9f82\GdiPlus.dll"
Error: SetupDecompressOrCopyFile() "e:\I386\asms\10\MSFT\WINDOWS\GDIPLUS\GdiPlus.dll" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.Windows.GdiPlus_6595b64 144ccf1df_1.0.2600.2180_x-ww_522f9f82\GdiPlus.dll" 23: Data error (cyclic redundancy check).
File copy done
Error: SetupDecompressOrCopyFile() "E:\I386\ASMS\7000\MSFT\WINDOWS\MSWINCRT\MSWINCRT.MAN" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\WINSXS\MANIFESTS\X86_MICROSOFT.WINDOWS.CPLUS PLUSRUNTIME_6595B64144CCF1DF_7.0.0.0_X-WW_2726E76A.MANIFEST" 999: Error performing inpage operation.
DecompressOrCopy file "E:\I386\ASMS\7000\MSFT\WINDOWS\MSWINCRT\MSWINCRT.CAT" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\WINSXS\MANIFESTS\X86_MICROSOFT.WINDOWS.CPLUS PLUSRUNTIME_6595B64144CCF1DF_7.0.0.0_X-WW_2726E76A.CAT"
Error: SetupDecompressOrCopyFile() "E:\I386\ASMS\7000\MSFT\WINDOWS\MSWINCRT\MSWINCRT.CAT" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\WINSXS\MANIFESTS\X86_MICROSOFT.WINDOWS.CPLUS PLUSRUNTIME_6595B64144CCF1DF_7.0.0.0_X-WW_2726E76A.CAT" 999: Error performing inpage operation.
DecompressOrCopy file "e:\I386\asms\7000\MSFT\WINDOWS\MSWINCRT\msvcrt.dll" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.Windows.CPlusPlusRuntim e_6595b64144ccf1df_7.0.0.0_x-ww_2726e76a\msvcrt.dll"
Error: SetupDecompressOrCopyFile() "e:\I386\asms\7000\MSFT\WINDOWS\MSWINCRT\msvcrt.dll" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.Windows.CPlusPlusRuntim e_6595b64144ccf1df_7.0.0.0_x-ww_2726e76a\msvcrt.dll" 23: Data error (cyclic redundancy check).
DecompressOrCopy file "e:\I386\asms\7000\MSFT\WINDOWS\MSWINCRT\msvcirt.dll" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.Windows.CPlusPlusRuntim e_6595b64144ccf1df_7.0.0.0_x-ww_2726e76a\msvcirt.dll"
Error: SetupDecompressOrCopyFile() "e:\I386\asms\7000\MSFT\WINDOWS\MSWINCRT\msvcirt.dll" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.Windows.CPlusPlusRuntim e_6595b64144ccf1df_7.0.0.0_x-ww_2726e76a\msvcirt.dll" 999: Error performing inpage operation.
Copying file "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\DEFAULT" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\DEFAULT"
Error: CopyFile() "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\DEFAULT" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\DEFAULT" returned error 32: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.
Copying file "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\DEFAULT.LOG" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\DEFAULT.LOG"
Error: CopyFile() "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\DEFAULT.LOG" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\DEFAULT.LOG" returned error 32: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.
Copying file "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SAM" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SAM"
Error: CopyFile() "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SAM" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SAM" returned error 32: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.
Copying file "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SAM.LOG" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SAM.LOG"
Error: CopyFile() "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SAM.LOG" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SAM.LOG" returned error 32: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.
Copying file "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SECURITY" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SECURITY"
Error: CopyFile() "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SECURITY" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SECURITY" returned error 32: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.
Copying file "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SECURITY.LOG" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SECURITY.LOG"
Error: CopyFile() "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SECURITY.LOG" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SECURITY.LOG" returned error 32: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.
Copying file "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE"
Error: CopyFile() "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE" returned error 32: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.
Copying file "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE.LOG" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE.LOG"
Error: CopyFile() "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE.LOG" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE.LOG" returned error 32: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.
Copying file "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\SETUPREG.HIV" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\SETUPREG.HIV"
Error: CopyFile() "C:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\SETUPREG.HIV" to "c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\I386\SYSTEM32\SETUPREG.HIV" returned error 32: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process."

THESE are the Windows Registry files and the system (XP) is running.
You need to BOOT into Linux and then access the XP files using the Linux system.

see my prior post for the HOW-TO!