If you are having frequent power surges, or brown outs etc you could buy a
UPS. I'm certain you can get them in whichever country you live in. As for
the video display that might be related to corrupted video drivers. You
could try reinstalling those to see if it helps before you attempt a
reinstall. Another thing to try is System Restore to revert back to the
system state just prior to the problem beginning. To access System Restore
click your Start button and go to Help & Support. Under the Pick a task
section click the link to System Restore and follow the wizard to Revert
back. If System Restore works , and it doesn't always work, you will roll
back but will not lose any data, or e-mail or the like. It is a good second
or third step when you run into a problem like this. I'd try reinstalling
the video drivers first though. If all fails then go for a Repair Install
( see here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm How To Run A Repair
Install ) before trying a completely new install.

If you do a Repair Install or a fresh install you will be confronted with
having to reinstall the scores of Hotfixes that Microsoft will force feed
you. An alternative is to download all the hotfixes first and save them to
disc. You can get them here http://wud.jcarle.com/ and create a homespun
slipstreamed version of XP using nLite http://www.nliteos.com/  with your
legal XP CD and the updates.