PC not starting and CD-rom drive not working

Hello,
My PC, a Dell Vostro 1000 is running Windows XP. When I try to boot it up, it shows a black screen and
"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\system32\config\SYSTEM

You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup
using the original Setup CD-ROM.
Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair."

However, the cd-rom drive will not open. I tried the paper clip, and that's not working. Any suggestions?