WinXP fails to reboot after Disaster Recovery

[dld]

I have two Dell computers, a desktop dating from December 2002 and a laptop dating from December 2003, both running WinXP HE. I have had to do Disaster Recovery a number of times on the desktop with no problem. What I do is to delete all partitions on the disk, reformat the HD, and install WinXP from the Reinstallation CD provided by Dell.

This weekend I had to do a Disaster Recovery for the first time on the laptop. The only difference with the desktop is that the Reinstallation CD for the laptop includes SP1. After completing the installation of WinXP, I installed Maxtor and Retrospect Express 6.0.222 software, accessed my Maxtor USB2 OneTouch and initiated the Disaster Recovery by first repairing the catalog and then doing Restore. Prior to initiating the Disaster Recovery the computer could reboot with no problem. After completing the initial part of the Disaster Recovery, when you are asked to reboot the computer to complete changes to the Registry, my computer failed to reboot. Immediately after the Bios splash screen, I get an error message saying effectively that due to a hardware problem, the boot sequence could not access my hard drive, or something to that effect. After reformatting the HD and reinstalling WinXP and this time going to a different backup set made a month earlier, I get the same result. I have tried going to the Bios to make sure that the HD is first on the list for booting with no difference. Dell Tech support had me do a HD diagnostic, checkdisk, remove battery and power from the laptop and hold down the power switch, all to no avail. The bottom line is that I won't be able to backup my laptop using Dantz Retrospect Express 6.0.222.