Any way to get files off a computer that will not start up?

There is a way, but unless you feel comfortable taking both computers apart to move the hard drive from his to yours, I wouldn't recommend it. Any decent computer shop should be able to recover his data for for a fee, however. If the drive itself is still readable they should be able to pull the data off of it and put it on CD. You could have a look at the http://www.fonerbooks.com/r_hard.htm to decide if you want to try it, however. Another way you may want to look at is http://www.help2go.com/article205.html. It should allow you to create a Windows install that boots off of a CD and lets you read his data and move it over a network. I haven't tried it, however. If you don't have your Windows CD and a CD burner, then that method is not for you.

A very simple solution would be to get a http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=hard+drive+enclosure+usb, open the dead PC, take out the hard drive (four screws, two cables), plug it into the enclosure, and plug the enclosure into a living PC. From there it's copy and paste.

Moving the hard drive into another computer is not at all rough, and will work fine as long as the hard drive is still functional. If you can work a screwdriver, you can do it. That guide linked by Dipsomaniac looks fine, with some additional considerations and tips: -Look in your computer's BIOS for the configuration of your current drives. (Assuming both your computers use IDE, which is extremely likely unless they are pretty new.) Probably you'll have a hard drive and a CD-ROM set up as Primary and Secondary Master, meaning you'll need to set the jumpers on your husband's drive to Slave. Theoretically you should put your husband's hard drive on the same controller as the CD-ROM for faster file transfer, but it's not really important. -Leave the computer plugged in, but turn off the switch on the back - this way the case will still be grounded and you won't have a risk of static as long as you are touching it. -You don't even have to bother screwing your husband's hard drive into your computer, as long as you place it somewhere where it won't fall down, which will save you minor effort and time. -The red part of the IDE cable is toward the power socket (4 wires) on the hard drive. It should also be keyed but might not. The USB hard drive enclosure is a waste of money unless you'll also use it for something else.

+1 for the Knoppix way

Knoppix thirded here. This is what I've done in this situation.

I'd also reccomend knoppix, but if knoppix cannot read the data from your hard drive, you can create a http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ and try that. As with knoppix, this will allow you to create an operating system that boots from a cd rom. The difference is that the operating system which boots is windows, and *may* be more compatible. From there you should be able to get access to the hard drive.

I wouldn't rule out physically moving the harddrive from one system to another. It's not at all as scary as you probably think it would be. Assuming both systems run Windows, and are fairly new, you should have no trouble. This is assuming the drive isn't physically dead, or anything like that. Open up the computers. In the bad one, look for two wide, flat ribbon cables. These go from the flat, green motherboard to the different drives in your computer. Each ribbon cable can attach to two devices, such as your harddrive and CDROM. Once you find this ribbon cable, follow it to your harddrive, which looks something like http://john.simplykiwi.com/images/120.jpg It'll also be hooked up to a multicolored 4-wire power cable, which is missing from the ones in that photo. Pull the two cables out, and then figure out how the harddrive is mounted. There are spots for two screws on each side, and sometimes the harddrive is in a convenient slide-out carrier. All of this stuff is just mechanics, you only need to have a phillips screwdriver. Once you get the harddrive out and in your hand, take it over to the other computer. Inside, find the same ribbon cables. There will be two. One will go to that computer's harddrive, which should look familiar now. Don't use that cable, leave it how it is. Find the other identical ribbon cable, which is either attached to some CDROM drive, or is laying loose. If the very end of this second cable is attached to something, unplug it temporarily. Hook that end up to the old harddrive you just removed from the other computer. Find an unused 4-pin multicolored power cable that you can hook up temporarily to your old harddrive. Once these two things are in place, you're ready to go. You can lay the harddrive on the desk while it's hooked up, but put it on something nonconductive, like a piece of cardboard. Only the bottom is sensitive, so you could also just lay it upside down. Now, turn on your computer. Assuming your computer is somewhat new, everything will be autodetected and you'll find the old harddrive in Windows' Explorer. When you're finished, power down and, if necessary, plug your CDROM drive cable back in. Good luck, don't be afraid to dig in there!

We appreciate all of the answers- we are going to try the Knoppix/Windows Bootable Disk solutions first, and then move onto the screwdriver-weilding should that not pan out. I thank you all, great l337 ones.

If you're going to go the Knoppix route, try a USB thumb drive for backing up the data, provided you think they'll all fit on one.