I'm fixing an IBM Thinkpad laptop running XP Pro which doesn't boot all the way (It gets past the XP logo boot screen, a movable mouse cursor appears, and it doesn't get any further, even in safe mode) after being bumped a bit.

I'd like to do a repair install. I booted it to an XP Pro CD, but the Repair install option (not recovery console) doesn't appear.

After pressing F8 to accept the EULA, it says, Loading setupp.ini, then immediately goes to a partition list (it never says Searching for previous installations of Microsoft Windows). If I select the partition, it warns me that there is already a Windows installation in that partition, and that it will be completely obliterated if I continue. (So I know that it does see the contents of the hard disk)

I booted the same CD in an XP virtual machine, and it offered to repair the XP installtion in the virtual machine, so the problem isn't with the CD.

Does anyone know how make it do a repair install (or have any other ideas to solve the problem?)

It might not show up because it's an OEM installation (but not an OEM CD), but that's just a guess.