PC won't start up

[Hurricane Dean]

Our Sony VAIO was using IE and one recent morning it wouldn't start. Nothing will restore it. Norton Ghost's recovery didn't stand a chance against whatever snuck in! Is there anything short of stripping everything out and reloading that will restart it and save all those files!

Why are my files never backed up? Why is the rum always gone?

This is my second Sony VAIO PC this has happened to. I sure would appreciate any expertise anyone can provide me with! I guess I should forget IE from now on, huh?