XP won't boot.

My computer froze on me wednesday afternoon so I had to restart it manually. During the restart, after the BIOS screen a message came up saying that the file c:\windows\system32\config\system was either corrupt or missing. I tried to run my windows xp cd but it froze after the windows setup screen. I then setup my old computer and made a new Windows XP combined with SP2 and my computer was able to get past the windows setup screen but this time it told me that my hard drive wasn't detected. My computer is a Dell XPS 400 and didn't come with any manufacturers discs so i'm at a loss as to what to do. I know what kind of Hard Drive I have, it's an 80gb western digital Caviar SE so I was able to download those drivers and boot them up by pressing F6 during windows setup. I would add the drivers but it still didn't detect my hard drive. The strange thing is that my BIOS detect the hard drive.

I have no idea what kind of motherboard or RAID controller I have because my computer came with no manuals or manufacturing discs so if any of you know how to fix this problem, it would be greatly appreciated as I don't have the money to call Dell tech support or take it to a repair shop at the moment as I am a poor college student.

 

Here is Dell's webpage for your model. Use the diagnostics. I think you will need to make a floppy disk using the "hard drive" program. The ISO image you will need to burn onto a CD. In a burning program select "Burn" and direct it to that file (it may be the reverse, go to File -> Open, select the file and Burn).
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...SystemID=XPS/DIMENSION 400/9150&os=WW1&osl=EN
There do not seem to be many other instructions.

Here is the reinstall guide:
http://support.dell.com/support/top...alid=&treeid=FFA33DA99941FEDFE030030ABD62041A

You can find more info by using the "Select a Tool" for your model here:
http://support.dell.com/

Let us know if you get stuck, but the Dell Community Forums may be a better place to ask.

Matt