Ok, so my harddrive just kicked the bucket (again) and i think i might be able to recover it enough to get the data off. The question is, what program should i use to back up or will i be able to do a bit for bit copy of this drive to another? I currently have windows xp installed and i've tried the autorecover program but it isnt very consistent (its died on me several times before causing me to start the whole $%@#@ process over again). I have a dvd burner with plenty of dvds, so space is not an issue (for a media backup). Thanks!

put the hd in another computer & save the stuff you want

yeah, see what im trying to do is get the whole os and all my apps, i dont think just a straight copy will do that, i was looking for a backup program a little more reliable than the windows autorecover to throw it all (programs included) on dvds.

You should probably write off the OS. You're going to need a reinstall anyway. Go for the data.

simply copying the files will be fine, the only thing youll lose is the winxp bootloader (or whatever you've got in the MBR)... it can be backed up, but the easiest way is to just use the repair console from a winxp cd and run "fixmbr"

that said, i think you should just format