HELP asap!! reinstalling winxp

[Platinum]

OK, so one of our sales reps here int he office sent in his laptop. Filled with spyware and adware (can thank porn sites for that). so the fastest and easiest way to clean it up would be a fresh install of windows. So I start reinstalling, computer restarts to continue installation and that's when I realize I didn't backup ANY OF HIS FILES! I f-ed up real bad, he needs that. So I restarted the computer mid-setup and pulled the CD out. The computer goes to continue the installation (i was thinking maybe i could get back into windows) instead of starting windows. Can i still get access to the files?

My only thought would be to pull the hard drive out and throw it in an external enclosure, but I dont have one for this hard drive, just a 3.5" at home. What can I do? This is extremely important.

 

[brycatanz]

Did you format?

 

[red onion]

If you did not format, try using a Linux Live CD, (Knoppix is good), and transferring the files over the Lan or to an ext drive.

 

[Platinum]

I don't know if it formatted. I threw in the XP Upgrade CD, and started the setup from within windows. The computer restarted to continue the installation in DOS mode (like if you were to boot off the CD), I continued the setup and selected the partition to install over and walked away from my computer. About 20-30 minutes later I came back, and it was at the setup screen after it restarts from DOS mode, where it installs devices, etc. That's when I realized I didn't back anything up. So I stopped the installation right then.

 

[Platinum]

OK, so I booted up using Knoppix. How do I access the network to copy the files to it? Or.... There's a second backup partition, but I can't seem to copy anything to it, or create any directory. Says "Could not make directory /mnt/hda2/jburke" which is the folder I'm trying to copy.

Edit: sorry for the double post.

Edit 2: Apparently I don't have sufficient access to write to this drive? I also do not have access to the internet - I'm going to create a new thread for Knoppix.