> If you have another machine available to you, download a Knoppix Linux Live CD image and use it to boot the sick machine. Then you will be able to (hopefully) see the contents of the drive and copy the vital contents accross the network to another machine, where they can be burned to a CD/DVD.
That is a really great idea! No reason why it wouldn't work, except...he's got to get into the BIOS and set the machine to boot from CD rather than HD or floppy.
UBCD does the same as Knoppix these days
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/