My Gateway Windows XP laptop has stopped booting, and I needed to recover some of my data before reformatting it. The CD drive doesn't work, so I purchased a live version of Knoppix 6.2.1 on a 2GB flash drive to try and boot from there.

I was able to change the boot order and get it to recognize the USB, but I have a problem after that. Initially, I get a UNetbootin loader menu, where the options are as follows:

Default
adriane
knoppix
fb1024x768
fb1280x1024
fb800x600
memtest
dos
failsafe

I select "knoppix" and I can see the Linux logo at the top left hand corner, as well as all the functions loading. I get to a prompt asking me whether I want to create a file for saving my personal files, and it says I can leave it blank if I want to and skip that step.

Finally, I get to a black screen with xauth: creating new authority file /home/knoppix/.Xauthority on top, and (==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" on the bottom, where it hangs for a long time, at least 15 minutes by my last count. I still haven't been able to go beyond that point.

My question is, what is it doing during that time? Is it erasing the HDD on my laptop because I hadn't specified a file size for my personal files earlier? Is it just frozen? I read elsewhere that it should take no more than 10 minutes to boot into Knoppix, so I got worried when it took so long and nothing changed. The cursor doesn't blink during this time either.

Is there any other option I can try to boot from? Such as failsafe or Default? Any help is greatly appreciated!