Microsoft Malfunction!

So here I sit, at a computer repair shop in South Korea. Why? To put it simply, my computer crashed. Yes, I was making a movie out of some video clips from my digital camera using the Windows Movie Maker program, when suddenly my computer became unresponsive. This happens occasionally so I thought it to be no problem. I shut down all processes and restarted the computer. The computer restarted without any difficulties and I continued to edit my movie. I finished my movie project and thought I should restart my computer before I tried to play it. Since my computer usually slows down after I do movie editing and file transfers, I thought I should restart. So I did. But this time it was different. When I restarted the computer, it stopped on the Windows Logo and wouldn't proceed. So I restarted it again, and again, and again. I tried "Safe Mode", I tried restoring to "last known good configuration", and I tried everything else possible. Nothing. Same problem. It always stopped at the Windows Logo.
The next day I went to school and surfed the net for some answers. I came across a few things to try and tried them. After performing these tests I found out for certain that my Windows XP Operating System (OS) was damaged. I knew I had a big problem since I don't have the origninal CD's for XP. I remembered that I had received a buisness card from a Korean man who had his own computer store. I gave him a call and we set up an appointment.
I knew what had to be done so I gave him my computer so he could take it to his shop and remove the hard drive and connect it to his computer and transfer all my data over. After the data transfer he could format my hard drive and install a new version of Windows XP. Yes, that's right, I had to purchase a new Operating System.
He gave me a call later in the day to tell me that he was experiencing some difficulties in transferring data. So after work I scooted over to meet him at Lotte Department Store where he would lead me to his shop. It was kinda funny cuz I gave him a lift on the scooter to his shop. We were cruising the sidewalks and he was directing me. It was funny.
Anyway, he showed me on the computer that he couldn't access My Documents. The reason for this was that my "owner" folder was protected. Since it was a different computer and processor he couldn't access my files. He was thinking that there wasn't any way to access them without being on my computer, which doesn't run. This is a BIG PROBLEM!
I wouldn't settle for losing all my data until we had tried everything. So I proceeded to look on the internet for some more solutions. He called some computer buddies and we worked at finding a solution. I found one solution on the net and we gave it a try. Since the operating system on his computer is in Korean, we had to do some translating along the way.
Our communication wasn't working out the first couple attempts and I couldn't remember the exact steps in the procedure. He didn't have a printer hooked up so I couldn't print the intructions. I went back and read them again and noticed why it didn't work. We tried it again.
This time it worked! We were able to unlock the folder and gain access to my data.
It was kinda funny to me and a bit scary that I was the one that was able to come up with a solution. But whatever the case, I was happy that I was able to find the solution.
Now I sit at his other computer and type this blog while the files are being transferred to his computer. From there we will reformat my hard drive and install Windows XP, then tomorrow he will transfer all my files back to my computer and we will be good to go. So I'm hoping and praying that this process continues smoothly.
I guess you'll have to find out the rest of the story in the next blog....