Recover a Corrupted System File

If an essential Windows file goes missing, gets whacked by a virus, or is otherwise corrupted, you can restore it from your Windows XP CD. Select Search from the Start menu and search the CD for the filename, replacing the last character with an underscore—for example, Notepad.ex_. If it's found, open a command prompt and enter the command expand followed by the full pathname of the file and of the desired destination, for example, expand D:\Setup\Notepad.ex_ C:\Windows\Notepad

.exe. If either pathname contains any spaces, surround it—the full path—with double quotes.

If the file isn't found, search again using the unmodified filename. It will probably be inside a CAB file, which XP treats as a folder. Then simply open the folder, drag the file to the desired location while holding down the right mouse button, and choose Copy Here.