Windows XP can't boot, keeps returning to a BSOD.

Whilst using Avast Antivirus the computer suddenly froze. For about 3 minutes it did nothing then came a BSOD. It told me to uninstall any new devices that I may have attached and if this was the first time you have seen this screen to simply reboot…
All the physical memory was dumped into a file on the hard drive. After this had completed i rebooted. Windows then tried to resume where it was before the crash my booting from the file on the hard drive. The black and white bar (similar to the bar seen when coming out of hibernation) progressed very slowly, it was clear to see that something was going wrong. When it reached the end, the computer went back to another BSOD. This now happens everytime I try to boot. I attempted to boot from Safe mode, last best known configurations, and safe mode with Command Prompt but to no avail. I decided to run a few Dell diagnostic tests on the hard drive and the memory. The memory was fine but my SATA HD had failed the confidence test and reading test. I repeatedly got the message "Uncorrectable data error or media is write protected ". I do not believe this is a physical problem with the HD but perhaps a corruption problem. Dell have told me I will need to buy a new one (Probably so I have to spend money in their shop). Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks

Alex

 

I think your hard drive has failed. If you have data to rescue, you could try imaging the drive with Ghost or True image.

Then boot to the XP install cd > "R" to repair an existing installation> and run chkdsk /r to see what it reports.

Recovery Console Commands

 

Will Ghost recover and other imaging programs be able to rescue powerpoint, word and excel documents?

 

I have tried installing it as a slave and WinXP does see it. However when i try to access it i'm told the disk cannot be accessed and asked whether i would like to format it.
I have been told that there is physical damage to the disk and that there is almost no chance that any data can be rescued (That'll teach me to back everything up ). How can it work one minute and then damage itself so much that the data can't be read the next minute? All it has done is sit on a floor for 6 months. All I can hope is that Dell pay the £60 it cost me to try and get the data rescued. Thanks anyway.