Did you use any bootcfg commands in recovery console after the fresh install?
If so the boot.ini may have multiple entries.
What you may want to do is create a
BartPE CD so you can boot from that and go into the laptops file system. You will be able to see/edit/replace any file you want to by booting from the Bart cd.
There are instructions at the above link that will guide you through creating the CD. Make sure the
A43 File Management Utility plugin is enabled when you create the CD as this is what you will use to explore your laptop. You can also have network support through Bart so you can copy good copies of the files to the laptop and replace the bad ones.
After booting from the Bart CD, launch the
A43 File Management Utility then open your boot.ini file of the laptop. You may need to unhide files through folder options to see the boot.ini file.
It should look something like this if XP home:
Code:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /FASTDETECT /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN
If it is different then post what it says.
If the boot.ini file looks ok then we can move onto replacing those files using Bart.
EDIT: also get the Firefox plugin so you have web browser support