This seems to be sort of similar to other posts, but not exactly, and before I do something really dumb I figured I'd better get some advice. 

 

Last night, I updated Adobe Bridge and and Adobe Camera Raw, which are part of Photoshop.  Regular software updates, didn't seem like anything special.  Then, when going back into Bridge, it did not display properly.  Tried for a while to figure out what was wrong, to no avail.  So I went to System Restore, and set it back to before the updates. 

Somewhere, there was a Big Mistake!  Rather than setting the system back, I got a black (not blue!) screen with the message (in white text):  Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:  Windows\System32\Config\System
It said I could try using the original windows CD and to select R on the first prompt.

Problem was, I could not boot from the CD.  Kept getting the above message.  I tried to boot in Safe Mode, but couldn't do that either.  Hit f8 when the machine was starting, and got to the page to select how to boot and pressed Safe Mode.  Again got the message above.  Tried to boot in other modes - still no luck.  Turned off and restarted - still no luck. 

Assistance would be greatly appreciated - Is there anything special I need to do to boot from the CD?  Any reason why it would not work?  The machine is a Dell Dimension 8300, about 2 years old. 

I do have back ups, so (at least not yet!) I am not in a panic - but I need to get this sorted our as soon as possible.  Many thanks!