Thanks to everyone for your guidance. Looks like I will have to tell those who have a corrupt OS that without the cd there is nothing that can be done. They would just need to purchase an OS.
Or, could I purchase an OS, say Vista Home Premium 32-bit, and use it load the OS and then use the product key on the sticker located on the PC? Then if I needed it to load on another PC, I could use it and of course use the product key for that PC? Also, could it be used to do a repair on any Vista OS, or would it only work to repair Vista Home Premium 32-bit systems?
I'm a little new at this and a student for Networking and PCs. I'm Trying to learn more about this. Thanks again. I have already learned something new from this thread.