Dear PC Guru: A loved one is having bootup troubles. She’s spent hours on the landline with the techies and I’m not convinced that they have a handle on the situation – advising that her c:disc was-is corrupt…

Neat trick how they deduce that over the phone. Most folks don’t practice safe computing or data backup so my primary mission is data rescue, and secondarily, to restore the OS and install a CD burner so that there won’t be a crisis next time. Committed to the challenge, I hope it isn’t too much of a basket case. I’ll either be a hero or a zero for my $200 idea to box it up and ship. The UPS man should have the machine at my front door by manana.