Looping At Startup, Need Help!!!

[yoshi45]

First, some history on my desktop unit. I have a 5 year old HP Pavilion that originally came with Win 98, but installed Win 2k so I could use my i-pod on it.
I am not very computer savvy and am still learning about maintenance issues. I had no firewall installed on my computer and was unaware of things like adware and spyware. When I did finally learn about them, I downloaded a couple of ad- and spyware removing software. But it may have been too late.
That said, here is my probem. When I turn the computer on, it starts up like normal but when it gets to the baby blue screen just before the log-in screen, it loops back to the HP start-up screen. I've tried to boot in safe mode, last good configuration mode, etc. But nothing works. Could it be a virus? I have some pictures that I didn't get to burn to disk and am afraid of losing them. Can someone PLEASE tell me how to boot it up without erasing the files on the hd????
P.S. Just after the baby blue screen there is a dos-type window that comes up, but I can't read what it says because it flashes off too fast.

[pam123]

Hi Yoshi45,
Welcome to PCMech !
Here is a link to how to use the Recovery Console in 2000 pro : http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...s+2000+install

Just scroll down till you find mhayes post.
He's not talking about your problem specifically but it should work for you.

[yoshi45]

Thanks for the tip Pam123!
I'll try it as soon as I find the disk!