windows trying to reinstall on reboot ? ? ?

[S Templar]

Hi and welcome.
One thing that may be best to do first, is to return hard drive as a slave on the other Pc and backup any needed data etc externally..Cd..Flash drive etc.

Did you only change the boot.ini to not include safe mode?
If you return your hard drive the original system and undo any changes made and once it boots to safe mode choose System restore.

[PhilliePhan]

One thing that may be best to do first, is to return hard drive as a slave on the other Pc and backup any needed data etc externally..Cd..Flash drive etc.

I agree - That would definitely be my first step before trying anything else!

Safe mode via msconfig is becoming increasingly dangerous these days due to some malware wiping the safeboot registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\SafeBoot

And msconfig, as you noted, changes boot.ini - the only way I know to fix this is through the recovery console. Slaving the drive as you did was a great idea. I can't believe that never crossed my mind!

That said, I am not sure how to address the current issue. . . . However, in addition to what The Saint has posted, you might have a look at this link as your penultimate (next to last ) resort:

XP's No-Reformat, Nondestructive Total-Rebuild Option

Best Luck
PP