As requested, I am starting this thread per:
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=120531.225
I am DLing OTLPENet. Seems to have just finished.
I/O error!
Device: [0:0:0] PLDS DVD+/-RW DU (e:) (SATA)
ScsiStatus: 0x02
Interpretation: Check Condition
CDB: 2A 00 00 02 D8 60 00 00 20 00
Interpretation: Write (10) - Sectors: 186464 - 186495
Sense Area: 70 00 05 00 00 00 00 0A 00 00 00 00 30 06 00 00 00 00
Interpretation: Cannot Format Medium - Incompatible Medium
OK can your system boot from USB ? If so then do the following
Download Peazip to the desktop
Run and install the programme
As it installs this page will show, deselect the AVG ticks
Press decline and it will then install cleanly
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/peazip.jpg
Download the following files to the desktop … Right click the links and select save as…then select desktop
Right click OTLPE on your desktop and select …Open as archive
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/Unzup%20archive.png
Select OTLPE standard
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/select%20archive.PNG
Click Extract, ensure that desktop is selected
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/extract%20archive.PNG
Insert the USB stick Then run Rufus
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/rufus.JPG
Select the ISO file on the desktop via the ISO icon.
Press Start Burn
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/RufusISO.JPG
Once the USB has burnt then
[*]Download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool and save it to the flash drive.
[*]Reboot your system using the boot USB you just created.
Note : If you do not know how to set your computer to boot from USB follow the steps here
[]As the Programme needs to detect your hardware and load the operating system, I would recommend a nice cup of tea whilst it loads 
[]Your system should now display a Reatogo desktop.
[]Locate the flash drive and run FSRT
[]The tool will start to run.
http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee362/Essexboy3/Farbar/FRST2.gif
[*]When the tool opens click Yes to disclaimer.
[*]Press Scan button.
[*]It will make a log (FRST.txt) on the flash drive. Please copy and paste it to your reply.
Before this goes further, thank you. I appreciate the rapid response(s). I hope someone is paying you for this.
I need to step away for a while. I read in the other thread you are GMT timezone. This is not an issue for me as I’m a night owl.
I will try this in a couple hours.
Again, thanks.
Hi Billy Corman,
essexboy is not paid by anyone for this.
He is helping people for free in his free time. 
Sorry about earlier. I live in Chicago and the weather today was hell.
I burned the USB stick and brought it over to the sick machine. I went into the BIOS and had it boot from the USB. On the restart it said it was starting Reatogo-W-PE, changed screens to the Flying Windows logo and almost immediately stopped with a blue screen message:
[i]A problem has been detected and windows has been shutdown to prevent damage to your computer.
If this is the first time you’ve seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:
Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated. Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption and then restart your computer.
Technical information:
*** STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF78DA528, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)[/i]
When I try to boot with a command prompt, well… the initial problem occurs; hanging on that driver and rebooting.
That is an inaccessible boot device stop … But I have another gizmo that may work, you can use the same USB for this
Download http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/unetbootin-xpud-windows-latest.exe & http://noahdfear.net/downloads/bootable/xPUD/xpud-0.9.2.iso to the desktop of your clean computer
[*]Insert your USB drive
[*]Press Start > My Computer > right click your USB drive > choose Format > Quick format
[*]Double click the unetbootin-xpud-windows-387.exe that you just downloaded
[*]Press Run then OK
[*]Select the DiskImage option then click the browse button located on the right side of the textbox field.
[*]Browse to and select the xpud-0.9.2.iso file you downloaded
[]Verify the correct drive letter is selected for your USB device then click OK
[]It will install a little bootable OS on your USB device
[*]Once the files have been written to the device you will be prompted to reboot ~ do not reboot and instead just Exit the UNetbootin interface
Download http://noahdfear.net/downloads/rst.sh to the USB drive
[*]Boot the Sick computer to xPUD.
[*]Press File
[*]Expand mnt
[*]Expand your USB (sdb1)
[*]Confirm that you see rst.sh that you downloaded there
[*]Press Tool at the top
[*]Choose Open Terminal
[*]Type bash rst.sh
[*]Press Enter
[*]After it has finished a report will be located in the USB drive (sdb1) named enum.log
[]Plug that USB back into the clean computer and open it
[]Then post the contents here
The computer says the drive is not bootable.
Press any key to boot from USB.
An operating system wasn’t found. Try disconnecting any drives that don’t contain an operating system.
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart
Hmm Xpud is a Linux front end so it should boot quite happily. I will have a look in my box of tricks and see what other options are available
I’ll try the process again.
Thanks for all the help.
Reformatted the USB and copied the rst.dh file over. When the sick comp gets to asking about hitting any key to boot from USB, I do. It’s a near immediate response about not seeing an operating system.
Hmm I can see no other way of getting into the system. If you have the CD we could go for a parallel install and work from there
I do have the disk still. I have tried using it. However, I (quite possibly) did not use it effectively enough.
I should note that I tried the solution provided here:
Repairing Windows XP in Eight Commands
http://icrontic.com/article/repair_windows_xp
As a result, I have three different options in signing in, the last of which is the original boot. There is a second windows and the third is i386 for the command prompt (that says it needs repair).
Can you log in to the second windows normally ? As that sounds like a parallel install has already been done
The original and it’s “copy” function the same way; reboot loop. The one which offers the i386 prompt goes to something about having to hit “r” to repair.
OK that is the recovery console. At the command prompt locate the letter of your USB stick with FRST on it
At the prompt type :
map
This will display all drives, determine which one has FRST on it (e.g. E)
Then type E:\frst.exe
It says that the CONFIG file is corrupt and that I should boot up with the CD and hit ‘r’ on the first screen. And, as an extra measure, the computer is no longer opening the damn CD tray.
If I took apart that computer and placed the hard drive in a remote housing, would this go smoother. I can plug the sick drive into the clean laptop and see it as another drive, correct? Then I could, perhaps, run the FRST from the clean laptop and post results.
Unfortunately no as FRST only scans the Active drive
Can you run chkdsk c: /r from the recovery console ?
I’ll try.
I’m having trouble getting to the actual recovery console at this point. I’ll take another swing at it in a sec.
Edit: The other drive opened and I was able to boot to the CD. I have a c:\ prompt.