system 32 problem

i know a little bit about computers, but by no means am i a guru.

recently my computer started acting sluggish and i had the old "windows will now install anti-spyware ballon in the bottom corner.........i ran smitfraudfix and got rid of it, still slugish so i ran adaware and found a few things and deleted them.......still didnt help, so i decided i was gonna fix this thing once and hopefully for all, by going into system 32 and deleting all the files made in the last two days........worked like a charm til i rebooted.....now when i click on icons that open programs i get an error msg saying, for example.....it does this on every icon i try to open "windows cannot find C:/system32/mozilla firefox/firefox.exe'. make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again.
To search for a file, click the Start button, and then click search" even when you search out the program you are hunting it still has the same error msg.
Is there anything i can download to fix this? or do i need to wipedrive and reload xp?

 

Hello and welcome to MajorGeeks,

You deleted files in System32 that are needed to run your programs, so yes rather than figure out what was deleted, you should reinstall...think it would be a faster fix now. Deleting files in System32 is not a good idea unless you have advanced knowledge or someone with advanced knowledge you trust tells you to do so.

 

dang, iwas afraid of that