system
9
Fortunately, the computer in question has more than 1 HDD, so (with the Paragon bootable CD) I am able to copy some files from the OS-containing HDD to the other. That is in progress as I write. A reformat and clean reinstall of Windows is therefore a possibility which doesn’t actually strike terror, but it is still something I’m hoping to avoid. Thanks again to everyone who has taken time to think/write about this.