Windoze XP Doesn't boot

[Stupid Boy]

Here's a problem my friend has:

He downloaded Middle Man, which is an instant messaging program. I've never used it, so I don't know what in Middle Man may have caused the problem. I think it was a beta version, but I 'm not sure. After he downloaded it, he started having this problem.

He has Windows XP. When he turns on his PC, he gets through BIOS, but he automatically goes to the Windows screen where you choose whether you want Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, etc.

He has tried all the options on that screen, and all except command prompt (or is it command line?) give him a blank screen. Command prompt shows a few files, but it stops very quickly.

His hardware is definately not the problem unless a hard drive crashed because he had been using Windows XP without problems for a couple months before this download.
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So, a few questions:

1. What's the problem?
2. Aside from reinstalling, how could I fix this?
3. He has some important stuff on here. Could I use Knoppix to move the files to another system on his network so I could just format the hard drive and reinstall?

Thanks

 

[diehrd]

Usually starting from that screen with LAST known good configuration works in a case like his. Toss the XP disk in and do a repair install it will tell ya how and walk ya through it.