Originally Posted by Gaucho100K
Of course, I wonder how much data could potentially be lost with this, and furthermore, by doing this I will then have to re-update my XP with all the new Service Packs and other updates from the MS website, right...?
I performed this operation with Windows Server 2003 Professional and the only things I lost were settings related to the web page I was running. I didn't have to install new drivers or anything; the normal user shouldn't notice any change in functionality. All this does is copy the original files to your computer which are essential to run Windows.
If you have used Control Panel to install Windows components, you may have to reinstall those after the repair.
You may have to install updates but that should take no time at all if you have broadband Internet.