Sometimes a Windows XP installation can fail to the point where you can do nothing to save it. You have a number of options open to you, such as attempting to repair the installation and, at the other extreme, reformatting all your hard drives and starting over. However, often the easiest approach is to install a fresh instance of Windows XP on a new hard disk partition and then work from the new installation to recover data from the old installation.
–From Chapter 11, Locating and Migrating User Data

They say there’s a solution to everything. When it comes to Windows XP, PC Magazine knows ’em all

Ever wish they’d consulted you before they designed Windows XP? Sure, it’s a great system, but there’s this one feature that makes you crazy. Or that annoying problem that keeps occurring. Well, you can rely on Neil Randall and your friends at PC Magazine to correct that oversight. Here’s the complete compendium of solutions to the things that bug you, threaten your security, slow you down, or other-wise prevent Windows XP from achieving perfection.

You can redesign Windows XP

• Create the interface that works for you
• Tweak your taskbar and control your folders
• Remove the stuff that gets in your way
• Install what you want; dump what you don’t
• Unlock hidden settings in Media Player
• Use Group Policy Editor to change the way users interact with their PCs
• Reinstall Windows without losing important files
• Lock it down with the Encrypting File System
• Find helpful features hidden in Outlook Express
• Dig into the Registry to remove every last trace of spyware