Heck. That Repair partition likely is a full factory reinstall. I can offer a good few handy ways to offload personal data, should you want to try that option. I just sense the drive is failing/going south (or, where you are, the slang might be north). And really need an XP Home cd to do a Repair Install, which corrects Windows files/functions, and so can bring about a good portion of any needed fixes. And having typed that, I instead recall the version does not matter for an XP Repair Install. Pro actually should have the same, and more, files etc., and I know I have done Repair Installs without regard to MS versions. I will provide the steps in case you are interested. You MUST have a Registration key for this, from the MS CoA sticker on the outside of the computer.
This procedure will appear terribly similar to a full install, but just isn't. More like an over-the-top reinstall, like Windows 98.
Load the XP CD into the CD-ROM drive and restart the system. On reboot watch for and agree to any prompts to boot from the CD. If the system only reboots to Windows stop and post back here and we will discuss steps to make changes in the BIOS.
After the installation software inspects the system and loads all necessary device drivers you will see the the "Welcome To Setup" screen, with the following menu:
This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft Windows XP to run on your computer:
To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.
To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.
To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
Press "ENTER" to start Windows setup. Although you see the words "repair a Windows XP" you do not want to press "R" (this will only lead to a console command prompt, which won't be helpful for this process).
Again accept any required agreements until you arrive at the display to select which XP installation you want to repair. Make your selection and press "R" to start the repair. Once the repair has completed allow the system to reboot itself, but this time do not agree to any prompts to boot from the CD (just allow Windows to boot up as it would normally do).
This repair will only restore the system files to the Service Pack level of the initial installation, so if any XP Upgrades such as SP1 or SP2 were made later on they will need to be reinstalled at this time.
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until you arrive at the display to select which XP installation you want to repair. Make your selection and press "R" to start the repair.
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NB - If you do NOT see a list of XP installations, STOP, and press F3 to quit. If setup does not recognize the existing install of Windows, moving forward at this point will just reinstall Windows.