Some Careful Steps to XP Repair

• 1). Place the Windows XP system disc in the CD tray and restart the computer. You'll see a message that tells you to press a key to start from the CD. Press the "Enter" key and wait for the installation program to load up. You'll see a screen labeled "Windows XP Professional ( or Home) Setup." Press "Enter."
  
  
• 2). Microsoft will ask you to accept their licensing agreement. Press "F8" to agree.
  
  
• 3). The next screen is the first opportunity to make a serious error. It will ask you if you want to install a fresh copy of Windows and ask you to press "Esc." If you choose this option, it will wipe out your entire hard disk. Completely and irrevocably. The other option is to repair the selected copy of Windows. It will ask you to press "R." Press "R."
  
  
• 4). Windows will copy the files it needs to your hard disk and re-boot. Here's a second opportunity to make things more difficult. The screen will ask you to press a key if you want to boot from the CD. Don't touch anything. If you press a key, it will take you back to the beginning, and you will have to wait for it to load again.
  
  
• 5). The "Windows Setup" screen will appear followed by the "Windows XP Setup" screen. It will ask you for information such as the Windows product key, your time zone and name. Congratulations, you have repaired Windows XP without losing any files. When Windows has loaded completely, you will find all of your folders intact. You may have to reselect a screen saver and background.
  
  
• 6). Remember, this repair process strips away any service pack upgrades. Turn on the Windows firewall, go online to the Microsoft home page and look for upgrades or use the update entry on your "Start" menu.