Question : Problem: Help - O/S Not Found

I have a Gateway 200X notebook running windows XP Professional.  I am now experiencing, for the third time in the last couple of weeks, my computer freezing... then when I restart it, I receive the following message:

Intel base code PXE (build 083)
PXE E61:  media test failure.  check cable
PXE M0F:  exiting Intel Boot Agent
O/S not found

The previous 2 times I reinstalled windows.  This time I got  a blue screen that stated:
Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.  The problem seems to be caused by the following file:  partmgr.sys
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

Tech info

***STOP: 0x00000050 (0xF87CC4AB, 0x00000000, 0xF87CC4AB, 0x00000000)
***partmgr.sys address F87CC4AB base at F87CA000, Datestamp 00000000

Does anyone know why this could be happening?  Is there anyway for me to keep my files?  Is my only option to format the drive and reinstall again?  

Answer : Problem: Help - O/S Not Found

This sounds to me like a failing harde drive and the first failure message indicates that the computer falls back to trying a network boot - which doesn't work in your case. I suggest you run any kind of hard drive diagnostics that you can find easily; if you can boot into windows you could start with scandisk or whatever equivalent is available, then proceed with the HD maker tools. Whatever you do, make sure your backups are up to date.

It could also be a memory issue, although I'd rank that as second. Running a memory tester is not going to harm your equipment, though, so it may be a good idea to do so.

If you cannot boot into windows, I'd say your best option is to move your laptop HD to another computer (using an adapter for desktop connection) and see if you can get any data off of it. Another possibility is to boot the computer with a Linux live CD like Knoppix and try to access the HD and get data off of it and transfer via networking to another computer.
/RID