Before undertaking a repair installation of Windows XP it's important to understand that this should be something of a last resort to be undertaken after you've tried a virus scan (you should do this regularly using up-to-date anti-virus software) and disk error checking ('My Computer'; right-click on drive C; select 'properties'; select 'tools'; 'error-checking'; 'check now' and tick both options).  In case things go horribly wrong make sure you have backups of all your important files, information such as passwords, key codes etc. and any programmes you've downloaded and don't have on CD.  It's also important to understand that this might not solve your problem, though if your problem is a corrupted XP file it just might.

What to do

The first thing to do is enter the BIOS Setup, usually by hitting the <Del> key during the POST (Power On Self Test) just after you've switched on the computer.  From the BIOS Setup screen enter Advanced BIOS Features (in the case of Phoenix - Award BIOS) and change the First Boot Device to CDROM.  Exit BIOS Setup and save settings.

Enter Advanced BIOS Features

Select CDROM as First Boot Device

Now find your Windows XP installation CD and put it in the CDROM drive.  Re-start your computer.

'Press any key to boot from CD' as instructed and your computer should boot up from the CD.

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