Windows XP won't boot-up, keeps starting over

Question

HP Pavilion a1320y desktop. (No Windows disk provided - recovery/Windows partition on D
Windows XP.
No changes made before problem started.
Windows will not get past the first Windows loading screen, and it goes into an endless loop of restarting.  Will not boot into safe mode.  Hardware check from Recovery Tools CD said no problems.  Norton boot-up scan said no problems with any malware.
There are not adequate instructions on using Microsoft Recovery Console from either Microsoft or HP.  On starting the Recovery console from the HP Recovery Tools CD, I must choose between starting in C:\MiniNT or C:\I386.  There are no instructions anywhere (Microsoft, HP, web) on which of these two to use.  Which is the right one?  Applying the fixboot and fixmbr commands under C:\MiniNT did nothing for the problem.
I am not going to use the PC Recovery options because I would lose all my data and installed programs.
The HP tech support techs did not even seem to know what the Microsoft Recovery Console is, even though it is on the HP Recovery Tools CD, and were completely unable/unwilling to give any help.  Truly pathetic.
What can I do?

Answer 1

Howdy. Don't know if You have resolved this yet. I had a boot loop awhile back with Windows XP home. I found that it was an ntldr (new technology loader) file that was corrupted. Even the Windows CD I used had been corrupted. I Opted to pull the hard drive and put it in an external hard drive case. I lost none of my data and use this as it is, connected with a USB cord.  I upgraded to another computer. If it's the computer you want to revive, get another internal hard drive, format it and reload windows on the new one. If, however, you have no recovery disks or cannot re-install the operating system, I would opt for another unit or;;  there are resources online that have legal copies of original windows disks you can buy cheap to do this. I don't have a better answer. I have been through several fatal crashes and the solution I found most effective is to get another unit, pull the old hard drive and use it as an external USB drive. I lose no data, though I have a hefty collection of hard drives from old machines. Sometimes you just can't revive a unit, as it may be one chip of a thousand on the motherboard. You might spend more $$ and time than it's worth. I had to learn that the hard way with my first XP in 1985.
It was much cheaper to replace the motherboard than to diagnose the problem. Thanks