Auto Update Interrupted Can't Load XP

Paranoid of downloads, the user of my laptop turned the computer off during
the Windows update. I have XP home. When it was turned back on, XP will not
load, it just keeps rebooting. I inserted the upgrade CD and tried to repair
or reinstall, but it didn't find any previous Windows files and I had to
insert my previous version just to get it to move forward. Once I got to the
point to select the partition, it shows the size of my hard drive and that
the full amount is free. I stopped at that point.

I got to the c: prompt and couldn't even get a dir.

What I'd like to do is just reinstall, because I don't want to lose my data.
Any ideas?

By the way I cannot load into safe mode.

"Lia" wrote:

> Paranoid of downloads, the user of my laptop turned the computer off during
> the Windows update. I have XP home. When it was turned back on, XP will not
> load, it just keeps rebooting. I inserted the upgrade CD and tried to repair
> or reinstall, but it didn't find any previous Windows files and I had to
> insert my previous version just to get it to move forward. Once I got to the
> point to select the partition, it shows the size of my hard drive and that
> the full amount is free. I stopped at that point.
>
> I got to the c: prompt and couldn't even get a dir.
>
> What I'd like to do is just reinstall, because I don't want to lose my data.
> Any ideas?