Power outage killed functionalities

[Ned]

We suffered a power outage, and despite having a surge
protector, something went wrong with Windows (Holy cow!).
Now I cannot open any Excel files by directly clicking on
them (I need to use the open function from within Excel),
and I cannot open any files from my recent files in the
start menu.

I am using Windows XP.

Any thoughts on how to fix these malfunctions?
Do I need to completely re-load Windows? Can I even do
that? What would that do to the files I have saved on my
computer?

Thanks in advance,

Ned

 

[Joe727]

Did you try a System Restore?

You also might want to consider buy a battery backup UPS for your PC.

Joe

 

[Ned]

Joe,
I might sound new, but how do I do a system restore?

Thanks for the response!!!!

Ned

 

[Joe727]

Click Start, Help & Support, Pick a Task, Click Undo changes to your
computer with System Restore, and follow the onscreen instructions.

Here's a Microsoft Video that explains how to use System Restore.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/using/howto/videos/default.asp

Joe