Was XP Preinstalled, if so, there may be a recovery partition, otherwise an XP CD would make things quicker and easier
If you borrow an XP CD to run the repair, it will need to be the same version XP CD as was used for the original installation, when it asks for a product key, the product key for the laptop must be entered
You could be lucky with system restore
Start the System Restore tool at a command prompt1. Restart your computer, and keep tapping F8 during the initial start-up until you get options, select Safe Mode with a command prompt then press enter.
2. Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator credentials.
3. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to an earlier state.
Look for a recent system checkpoint to restore from
For additional information about the Safe mode with a command prompt, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:http://support.micro....com/kb/315222/A description of the Safe mode boot options in Windows XP
You can use these to repair XPXP Repair InstallOr here if you are unable to run XP Repair InstallAlternative XP Repair Install MethodUse Windows Installation CD to repair the current installation, from the list, which uses a slightly different methodWindows XP repair feature won't delete your data, installed programs, personal information, or settings. It just repairs the operating systemAfter running XP Repair you will need to install all Windows UpdatesMicrosoft Update