Up to a point, reinstalling much of the OS and/or most programs can be done without an installation disk, if critical parts of the original installation are intact. Windows, and many Windows programs install from .CAB files that are copied to the hard drive as an initial step of an installation. The .CAB (Cabinet) files remain unless you deliberately (or accidentally on purpose) remove them and a reinstall can be done from them using "repair" functions built into most Win versions.

The .cab files are highly compressed, and the files contained in them must be "extracted" similar to getting individual files out of a .zip file; but the OS repair functions should take care of extracting what's needed.

IFF Control panel can find the .cab files needed, telling it to install (or reinstall) Word won't normally even ask for a disk, although in some Win versions it may ask if you "have disk." While this is a little ambiguous, what that often means is "Do you have a disk you'd rather use or should the .cab files from the previous installation be used." Just leave the "Have Disk" box unchecked and see what happens, and if the .cab files aren't there other options should appear.

Since many programs, and nearly all drivers, also use .cab files, you may find them scattered all over your drive(s); but recollection (a little hazy) is that the principal ones are likely to be in a C:\SYSTEM32 or C:\PROGRAM FILES folder, or something similar, in WinXP. (These files may be tagged as "hidden" and/or "system" files and may not be displayed in Win Explorer with common settings, so not seeing them doesn't necessarily mean they're not there. Control Panel can usually find them even if you don't see them if they are.)

John