XP repair help

My laptop crashed and I got the following message

Windows could not start because the following file is
missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTE­M


You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows
Setup using the original Setup CD- ROM.
Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair.


I was in the proceess of a backup but it never completed.

I'm trying to figure out how to

a) backup my laptop data (I have no idea how to do that if I can't boot
into my system)

b) repair my installation. my recovery CD only gives me the option of
wiping my drive which I don't want to do.

c) find out if I can load another version of XP on my system without
wiping my drive. I have WinXP Home (that failed) but I also have a
copy of WinXP Pro which I haven't loaded yet. I was going to try and
install XP Pro on my system and see if I could navigate to my files to
back them up. However, before I preform this I want to be sure that
loading XP Pro won't wipe my system. Can I load XP pro on my system
and basically make it a dual boot system without wiping my files?

Any help would be appreciated. I'm at the end of my rope.

TIA
Billy

DONT press R at the first screen, press enter, then F* (to agree to the
EULA)....follow "How to Repair Install" on this page:
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm#How%20to%20Repair%20Wind...%20XP%2

--
Peter
Toronto, Canada
XP Home SP2
P4 dual HT @ 3.0ghz, 1.0gb RAM, 160gb HD
<billyd1970.TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1113022068.549284.25260@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
My laptop crashed and I got the following message

Windows could not start because the following file is
missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTE­M


You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows
Setup using the original Setup CD- ROM.
Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair.


I was in the proceess of a backup but it never completed.

I'm trying to figure out how to

a) backup my laptop data (I have no idea how to do that if I can't boot
into my system)

b) repair my installation. my recovery CD only gives me the option of
wiping my drive which I don't want to do.

c) find out if I can load another version of XP on my system without
wiping my drive. I have WinXP Home (that failed) but I also have a
copy of WinXP Pro which I haven't loaded yet. I was going to try and
install XP Pro on my system and see if I could navigate to my files to
back them up. However, before I preform this I want to be sure that
loading XP Pro won't wipe my system. Can I load XP pro on my system
and basically make it a dual boot system without wiping my files?

Any help would be appreciated. I'm at the end of my rope.

TIA
Billy