here we go:

helping out a friend w/ his machine,

HP Pavillion series, don't have all the details, new within last 6 months,

problem: on start up get the message- windows/rootsystem32/ntoskrnl.exe please install copy, that may not be complete as this is second hand info.

cannot boot into safe mode.

i have searched VDr, lots of answers, but the big problem is they want to install XP cd, this is not possible-no cd!

can i : reboot>F10>system recovery and select "R"?

system restore is not an option because he deleted all restore points for some reason

hope someone can help...thanks!