Norton AV Update.. XP will not boot help :/

[nickifoxx]

We got a notice from Nortons that it was time to update the software. So we go thru with the updates and it asks us to reboot. Poof we get a screen that says something like ... We apologize for the inconvenience but windows did not start successfully... it may be due to a software or hardware change you can choose a previous configuration etc etc. SO we DID try to go to a previous configuration and it went back to the same screen. We TRIED to reboot in safe mode... right back to the same screen. We tried to go into the recovery console and delete any services that had to do with Norton AV... back to the same screen. We tried to repair the installation by installing a copy of windows over the existing one ... and it gave no options to repair it was just going to overwrite the info and said i might lose all the information in the My Documents folder. I am not sure what to do next. Any insight would be greatly appreciated

 

[rubikian]

You've done so much changes in your windows files, so I think it's better you reformat and reinstall the windows...a clean install...

 

[nach]

Whats your priority, is it to recover the files?

 

[nickifoxx]

Yes, I would have reformatted already if it wasn't. Windows practically tells me that it was due to the software change I made, yet it won't let me access the software. What kind of software change would prevent it from starting in safe mode??
Thanks

 

[nach]

Programs that can access the boot sector, partition tables, critical areas of disk such as antivirus programs, including partition magik can ruin your day. This is why the software developers recommend a full backup. If you zero every spot on the disk before install you deserve a medal.

I ask the question because if you have a secondary drive then do the install on this drive and XP will not touch the files you mentioned before and then you may recover those.