Bulldog455,
Yep. Choose the Standard edition 5.1.8.1, click ftp and save the file.
You will find the iso file in the desktop and then burn it as a disk image on a CD.
To boot up the CD you need to tell the Bios to boot the CD drive first before the hard disk if this isn't already the case.
On a boot up Slax will give you a text screen with explanations. The administrator in Linux is root and you will find its password on the screen. To kick start a GUI desktop the command, as explanined by the screen and standard in every Linux, is "startx".
Once in the desktop just click the home icon and search /mnt folder with the upward direction key.
Linux names your first hard disk as hda or sda depending it is a Pata or Sata disk and the number after the disk name signifies the partition number. If your XP is the first partition you will find it in /mnt/hda1 or /mnt/sda1.
I have just booted up my Slax 5.1.8 and it mounted 145 partitions, described in
this thread, in /mnt directory. I can access all my files in Win2k, XP and Vista and so you should be alright too.
Unless you download additional programs a modern Linux, which Slax belongs, reads but does not write on ntfs partitions which XP uses. Therefore your XP computer is pretty safe against accidental damage by a misadventure in Linux as technically it can't. You can verify this by trying to delete a useless file in XP (must be in a ntfs partition) with Slax
For saving your own personal data you can connect any USB devices, like a memory stick or an external hard disk, and do a "drag and drop" between two foloders or partitions. As Linux doesn't write on ntfs partitions you need a fat32 or fat16 partition in the USB device to receive the files. Current USB memory sticks use fat16 filing system as standard. Slax should detect the USB devices. If it doesn't just do a reboot. The USB devices will follow the Sata naming convention. This is to say if you have two Sata ports inside the Laptop Linux will reserve sda and sdb for them even they are not used. Therefore your first USB disk will be called sdc. If you have no Sata capability in the machine the first USB disk will inherit the sda status. You can ask Slax to partition and format any fat16 or fat32 partition for you too. Slax can create ntfs partition but cannot format it.
While in Slax you can check any of your Word document, Excel spredsheets, MP3 and photos as you are in a XP.
If you have a need to back the disk up take a peep at the first link of my signature. You can connect a 2.5" external disk of identical or larger size to clone the XP image out, swap the two disks, keep the original and proceed to do repair work on the new disk inside the computer with XP installation CD. That would be my approach.
If your disk develops a hardware problem and some sectors have been damaged it can still be cloned, if the damage is not in an advance state to stop the disk being read. The "dd" command in Linux only copies the binary bits of "1" and "0" between two disks. That is why Linux doesn't write on a XP but can clone it. Everytime you run a hardware-related corrupted hard disk you can propmote further damage and so an early cloning isn't a bad idea if the data is valuable to you.
A hard disk is a consumable because the operating system always read the same area and wears it dowm quicker than other area that get less used. The whole disk elsewhere can be in perfect health. It is unfortunate that due to a crucial system file not available the whole operating system refuses to boot and a user is left in a hopeless situation.
Good luck to your data recovery.
