Found the instuctions
Method 2: Repair install of Windows XP by starting your computer from the Windows XP CD
<SCRIPT type=text/javascript>loadTOCNode(2, 'moreinformation');</SCRIPT>To reinstall Windows XP by starting your computer from the Windows XP CD, follow these steps: <TABLE class="list ol"><TBODY><TR><TD class=number>1.</TD><TD class=text>Insert the Windows XP CD into your computer's CD drive or DVD drive, and then restart your computer.</TD></TR><TR><TD class=number>2.</TD><TD class=text>When the "Press any key to boot from CD" message appears on the screen, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD.
Note Your computer must be configured to start from the CD drive or DVD drive. For more information about how to configure your computer to start from the CD drive or DVD drive, see your computer's documentation or contact your computer manufacturer.
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=number>3.</TD><TD class=text>You receive the following message on the Welcome to Setup screen that appears: This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft Windows XP to run on your computer:
To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.
To repair a Windows XP installation by using Recovery Console, press R.
To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=number>4.</TD><TD class=text>Press ENTER to set up Windows XP.</TD></TR><TR><TD class=number>5.</TD><TD class=text>On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement screen, press F8 to agree to the license agreement.</TD></TR><TR><TD class=number>6.</TD><TD class=text>Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP is selected in the box, and then press R to repair Windows XP.
Note If Windows XP was preinstalled on your computer, and you do not have the Repair option, contact your computer manufacturer to make sure that you have the installation CD for a repair install.
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=number>7.</TD><TD class=text>Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to reinstall Windows XP. After you repair Windows XP, you may have to reactivate your copy of Windows XP.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Do not select Recovery Console in step 3, it will format (erase) your hard drive
As always, backup any critical data before you start this repair.
When I have pushed "R" for recovery, I got "C:\WINDOWS"
If I then type "help", I get a list of about 30 dos like commands that can be used......for example "fixboot","fixmbr", which are sometimes very helpful.
My laptop got clogged with too many bits of too much ,not quite uninstalled, software. By the time I got done with the registry it was a mess. I copied everything to a stand alone back up hard drive and set out to "repair" the Windows operating system. I never had any "repair" option other than the "push "R" for repair". The disk was the one supplied by Dell (Home Edition). Before I knew it, the hard drive was being formatted and Windows installed.....and I did have to re-activate it. I was never advised that all data would be lost BEFORE it was lost.
I was hoping maybe there was a "repair" option that was available to anyone who needed to fix some system files. It seems that the options are determined by which version and how it was originally installed.
Thanks for the input.