Is there any way to explore the files and folders on my computer without booting windows?

Question

I can't get my computer to boot up to windows. Is there any way, besides using the symantec recovery disc, to view the files on my computer?

I'd appreciate any help! Thanks!

Answer 1

Start your computer and just boot to the command prompt instead. You can usually do this by hitting one of the Fkeys, like F2, before you see the Windows XP screen.

Then, at the c: prompt, type dir /p

This will give you all the directories, and allow you to pause as you view them. Hit enter to go through the list.

To switch directories, say you have a folder called "Junk"

Type:

cd junk

Then it will say c:\junk

And then you can type dir /p again to explore that folder.

It is case sensitive, so "Junk" is different than "junk"

Good luck,

Mysstere