i think ive destroyed XP

[Mercenary Pilot]

The data should still be on your harddrive. XP is only the operating system and when you re-install it, all your data should still be in the C: directory. You will have to move them around a bit but they’re there somewhere (unless you reformatted of course?)

Most laptop manufacture's have on thier websites, a list of the individual components (i.e. graphics cards) so you can download the appropriate drivers. Then you will be able to change your screen resolution to something a little more "user friendly".