Norton, file associations,big problem

[Guest]

Friend was installing a Norton disk, scan stopped and computer restarted, all
icons are turned down pages except IE and recycle bin, no programs will open,
task manager shows nothing wierd running. System restore doesn't work.
Tried system restore from command prompt, it says no file assocation. Assoc
won't work from help. Short of reinstall is there any hope? Friend doesn't
have install disk. Xp sp2, Hp computer.

 

[Guest]

Does he have the recovery partition on the hard drive? Reboot and tap F10 as
the computer is starting - see if it pulls up the recovery console. See if
there is an option to repair windows. Will it boot into safe mode?
Jim