I believe you can reinstall from C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\INSTALL\SETUP but Im not sure
you must know your windows key before trying this!!
you will find it in the registry
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
The value is ProductKey
Am I correct you can only get into safe-mode?Did you try system restore? try fixing Reg before reinstall
Start your computer, press and hold CTRL, and then choose Safe Mode Command Prompt Only from the Windows 98 Startup menu. If you are running Windows Me, start your computer with the startup disk.
At the MS-DOS prompt, type cd\windows\command, and then press ENTER. Where windows is the name of the folder in which Windows is installed.
At the C: prompt, type scanreg /restore, and then press ENTER.
Select the previous registry you want to restore, and then press ENTER.NOTE: A properly working registry has the word "Started" next to the date.
When you receive notification that you restored a properly working registry, press ENTER to restart your computer.
hope you get it fixed!!!! -max