Hi Digital565. Well, you briefly mentioned that you "restored" to a previous time. Just for clarification, did you do a System Restore or did you just try to uninstall some programs? As for your quoted question, there is no such thing as a "free" reinstall. Did you ever have an installation CD? Is your computer a custom computer?

Here are the facts:
The only way to do a fresh reinstall or repair of Windows is with the Installation CD you used to install Windows. I don't mean to be blunt but if this is a custom computer (you built it) and you didn't have an installation CD to begin with, how did you install Windows? If this is a manufactured computer, go back to the manufacturer and ask for a repair/installation CD. You will have to prove that you have a valid product key and depending on the situation, you more than likely will have to pay a fee.

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This is my personal Dream PC: http://forums.pcworld.com/blogs/mphenterprises/2007/12/21/my-gift-to-myself

Hey digitall565:

Did you try running SFC (bring up "Run..." & enter "sfc /scannow" w/out quotes)? It's usually pretty good @ replacing missing or corrupted Win files. If it won't run & asks for a disk, try to borrow one from somebody. As far as I know, this is perfectly legal since you're not installing the OS, you're just repairing what's already there.

Hope this helps.

Very good point Harmonic. Can I ask you a question? Doesn't he have to either A) have the original Installation CD that is associated with his product key, even if he is doing a repair or B) find someone with the exact version he has, Windows XP Home Edition w/ SP2 for that to work?

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This is my personal Dream PC: http://forums.pcworld.com/blogs/mphenterprises/2007/12/21/my-gift-to-myself

Digital, even though your computer is 3 or 4 years old, the manufacturer still has the Installation/Repair CD. If you don't know of anyone with Windows XP Home Edition w/ SP2. I would contact the company. Again, as long as you can prove you have a valid product key, you should have no problem.

Addition:
Just reinstalling SP2 is not going to fix the problem, as you found out. You are missing valuable DLL files that can only be replaced by reinstalling Windows.

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This is my personal Dream PC: http://forums.pcworld.com/blogs/mphenterprises/2007/12/21/my-gift-to-myself