You can install the hard drive in an exterior usb hard drive case and transfer the files she wants to save. "IF" it is a virus, trojan or something of that nature you should be safe as long as in is not in one of the files she transfers to the other computer. From the experience I've had with trojans re fake virus screens a what not. They usually are programmed to imbed in your .dll files or in your internet explorer add ons. If you have the xp sp2 cd put it in the cd rom shut of the computer and turn it back on and let it boot from cd and it will start to install loading all the files and such then when you get to the Blue screen to Install windows or repair hit R for repair and it should repair the boot log and any other system files. Her personal files will not be deleted. "IF" it is a virus of some sort then it will still be in the system "WHERE" depends on the virus/trojan design but if it is just a deleted boot log or .dll file it should fix her problem. If it is a trojan or virus go to the microsoft downloads page or support and search for a program called SPY BOT it will run a diagnostic and remove most trojans and viruses if there just an advertising virus. I'm sure your not a bank server or corporate server so any "HIGH TECH" virus are unlikely to be in your system.. Worse case scenerio after getting her files re partition reformat then reinstall windows.

Thanks! I will pass this along to my daughter. For me the best way would be to insert the drive into the USB drive enclosure and transfer the files to the other computer and then to install it back into the problem PC and reformat and reinstall Windows XP but I'm not sure she will go to the trouble to do all of that! LOL Thanks for the suggestion though!

The SR1520AN I have (currently in an odd mood itsself) came with a recovery partition. One of the options is a non-destructive restore which will reset XP to an "out of the box" state without destroying data. It is usually accessible by pressing F10 while the COMPAQ logo is on the screen at boot time.

CAUTION: read what's on the screen very carefully to make sure you use the non-destructive restore and don't end up wiping absolutely everything