If I try to load with my main drive it gets as far as asking for password - this I don't have as I chose not to use one. I also tried just hitting the enter key but this failed as well. It does momentarily flash with - 'loading settings' - 'saving settings' then defaults back to asking for password.
If i try to get into Safe Mode using the f8 key and then do a restore on the main drive back to a
good configuration it will only go to the boot screen where you choose where to boot from viz .... drive, cd or floppy, cannot get into Safe Mode.
When i do use my back up drive - then go to 'My Computer' - it cannot see my main drive. But if I go to Computer Management under Admin tools' and look at storage drives it shows both my back up drive as 'healthy' and my main drive as 'active'.
I also tried using my XP disc to Repair and when I got the 'c' prompt tried to type in NET USER (MY NAME) (PASSWORD) to set a password but couldn't
It seems impossible for me to get into Safe Mode.