After system recovery, windows wont load.

Hello,

I have a HUGE problem.

The Windows antivirus pro malware infected my computer, and after 3 days of trying to eradicate it, i discovered that it had so penetrated my system that I had no choice but to do a complete system recovery. I have an HP that came with XP, but like many computers that are "bundled" with microsoft software, my system did not come with an actual XP cd, but rather the hard drive contains a "copy" of the xp software. Problem is, my registry got so corrupted that after the system recovery, windows still would'nt load, and I got a black screen with the pop-up that says "windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupted" windows\system 32\startup......blah blah.. So in looking for advice on how to fix this, everyone keeps telling me that I need to go to the xp recovery console, which of course I can't get to because I have no CD!!!! I called HP and asked them to send me one, but they cant or wont because my computer is old. And microsoft wont help me either, saying they dont give out copies of xp for computers that had it pre-installed!! So what are my options? Call the geek squad? call a "techie friend" who says " dont worry I can fix that" ? or just throw my computer away and buy a new one?? Can anyone help ? thanks