>> “Can you boot to a c:\ prompt?” <<
The last Windows that would boot to a prompt was Win 98SE.
“The last Windows that would boot to a prompt was Win 98SE.”
LOL. You are so wrong. All Windows versions can boot to command prompt. Here is example for Vista (see method 2): http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67612-check-disk-chkdsk.html