My older Dell laptop running (please don't laugh) under Vista has suddenly stopped booting (suddenly, as in it worked a day ago). It also can't run startup repair, repair your computer, safe mode with or without networking or command prompt, and boot using last working configuration. It's also tending to get stuck in a vicious circle where it won't boot so goes to the screen for startup repair, which then doesn't work and then attempts to reboot, which leads to the screen for startup repair... You get the idea. That CD/DVD drive no longer works, so I was going to try to create a USB drive with rescue/repair info. I'm trying to avoid a destructive installation because there are still a few files on this hard drive that I needed. I've found a few websites that seem to describe this process but at least one seems to be trying to sell me burning software, so I'd love to hear from someone with knowledge and no vested interests. Thanking the forum in advance!