How to Get Into Recovery Mode Without Logging Into XP

1. Turn on your computer, insert your Windows installation CD in the CD tray and reboot the computer. When the computer gets to the start-up screen that displays your BIOS information, press “ESC” on your keyboard. This will take you to the “Boot Menu” screen.
2. Choose the “CD-ROM Drive” selection. Press “Enter.” This will give you a command line screen that will prompt you to “Press any key to boot from CD…” Quickly press any key on your keyboard. After you press any key, you will see a blue screen with \"Windows Setup\" in the top left corner.
3. Allow the set-up CD to load the system drivers as if you are performing an installation of Windows XP. When the system drivers are loaded, this will bring you to a screen that says “Welcome to Setup.” You will see three options.
4. Go to the Recovery Console by following the directions under option two that reads, “To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console press R.” As directed, press “R” on your keyboard. This will take you to the next screen and into the Recovery Console.
5. Once inside the Recovery Console, select the Windows installation that you would like to log onto and press “Enter.” The Recovery Console will prompt you to enter the Administrator password. If there is a password, enter the password and press “Enter.” Usually by default there is no password; if this is the case, just press “Enter” and you will automatically log into the Windows installation you selected previously.
6. At the command prompt (which looks like this: C:\\Windows>), you can make limited changes to the operating system.