Okay, please read VERY carefully. I had an old motherboard that wore out (black screen, keyboard and mouse not working, the works) So I replaced it with a new motherboard (ASUS M5A97 AM3). Hard ware installation was no problem, could've done it blind folded; however, it was when I first turned the computer on that problems began. The screen splashed on, then it tried to go to the windows loading screen, this was stopped short and then I got the options of "running system repair" or "starting in normal mode". I selected "run system repair" for good measure. It found problems and to make a long story short, it couldn't fix them and every time I tried to reboot, it would continue to give me the same messages with no different outcomes. I tried to select the "start in normal mode" option a few times, but itd just take me back to the same screen. Upon research, I found that when installing a new motherboard, it is often necessary to also re-install the Operating System. They also say that when doing this, it will perform a "clean reinstall", as many of you know, and that this will wipe out my hard drive's contents entirely, unless I have a back up CD. The problem is, the first motherboard failed so unexpectedly, that I couldn't create a new restore CD. I certainly do not want to lose all of my data and documents. I am a writer, and dozens of my documented writings would just be gone, forever. To get to my point finally, what can i do to get this new motherboard to operate correctly with the old Hard drive, without having to lose all of my data? Useful information and straight answers would be exceptionally helpful. Thank you.