Do you need to get any files off the PC, or are you just going to blow the whole lot away and start from scratch?
One alternative that has served me well in the past, is to use a Linux distro which boots and runs from CD. This could a root to getting access to the files etc on the HD without taking the drive out of the machine. 2 distros that spring to mind are Ubuntu and Knoppix (easily found on Mr G. Oogle
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If you could give more details on what exactly you are trying to achieve, it might help to work out how best to do it
