Need Windows XP Home CD - Comp. Missing Files

Hello, I recently tried to restore my HP Pavillion desktop computer to factory settings. I made a Recovery cd previous to that but when I put the cd in it would start the Recovery but then an Error message would pop up saying "Corrupt: windows>\ system32", or something close to that not completely sure what it says. "Please restore the missing file." now when i turn on the computer a black screen appears saying - push "R" to go in recovery mode. push "F" to format and restore to factory settings or push "Q" to quit and restart computer. I have tried all three options including putting the recovery cd I made previously to all of this. So now I am guessing I am going to have to reinstall the program. All the methods that i have read about say something about going to start menu, go to C:drive, and on and on but I can't do any of that so what am i suppose to do???