Cropwell

Thanks for the reply. I think it is definitely an xp system, though I can`t say if it is pro or home etc. No licence sticker or anything is on the chasis.
I tried a basic download of the recovery partition but I didn`t want to go any further. I was thinking of trying a usb bootable linux version to try and recover the files but it has been ages since I did that sort of thing.
I will get my brother to see if he can rescue the system or at least the drive, he has access to some rescue software for this sort of thing.

Longer term though I think a more modern system might be in order.

Ollie