I think I went slightly mad back there, for I had to re-install Windows XP multiple times. The first time I did it, it gave me two options at systems start-up asking me which operating system I wanted to boot. There were two Windows XP Pros. Did some troubleshooting and it was the boot.ini file (again!!). ‘Corrected’ it and the blasted re-loop came back once more, even on a new installation! Threw in the installation CD and did it all over again, twice. First to make sure that I had every single partition in it was deleted and reformatted (I left one of them - the non-system files partition untouched during my first installation, but leaving a mystery EISA partition there since I read contained original system diagnostic tools). It didn’t work, so in my following attempt I removed the EISA partitions (yeah, one more had appeared) and just wiped the entire drive clean before proceeding. It worked. Got into my new Windows, and started looking for drivers and basic stuff. Had a bit of hit-and-miss there; my application panel wasn’t working, and my system could detect no audio device (despite having the appropriate drivers installed), and there were some conflicts with my wireless technology. Turns out there was a certain order in which the chipsets, drivers and modems and buses and what have you had to be installed. When approached in the wrong order, they won’t work. Now I think my lappy’s fine… almost back to normal. A spanking brand new normal.
It’s amazing how disruptive how a failing Windows can be. Almost my entire week gone… and now I’ve got a lot of emails and other stuff to catch up on.