Reinstall XP - Repair help?

[Paul]

It appears some of my registry has been corrupted in my
OEM XP Home Edition and I'm missing an odbctl32.dll file
among others. Some programs aren't running properly,
including System Restore. I feel my only option may be
to reinstall XP. I have the Sony Vaio Recovery CDs and
Software CD that came with the computer. 1. Can I do a
repair install without losing any data, settings and
applications? 2. If I do need to do a clean install, I
assume I will lose everything and need to backup all my
important data and reinstall all applications again,
yes? 3. If I use these OEM disks, will I be able to
easily activate XP again? Any step by step and advice to
completing this daunting (for me) task will be greatly
appreciated. I learn fast. Thanks. p

 

[peter]

A recovery CD will usually only set all back to when you first bought the
machine.
all data will be lost.all programs will need to be reinstalled.
I dont have a Sony so I dont know if theirs does the same.
peter