Ian writes:

<<multimeda
screensaver activates before the desktop is even displayed.>>

You didn't mention what happens running in Safe Mode.

Install and run updated Spybot, AdAware to clean out system (go back to
Sys.ini if you have to get rid of the ss again for long enough to enable
this).  It sounds rather like a piece of malware, which of course won't
show up in Task Manager or anywhere else.

Search for *.scr files and delete the offending one---though if it's
malware it may self-replicate.

Once you've got rid of all other contaminations, if performance is still
slow I'd suspect a corrupted or bloated registry .  Maybe, just maybe, you
MIGHT get away with deleting User.dat and Sys.dat. Yes, you CAN do this
while Windows is running, because these are loaded into memory at bootup,
so Windows will still run without a brain. Then reboot into the setup CD,
see if you can reinstall Windows over the top, and it should re-create a
new registry.

If still no joy, I'd dos deltree Windows and reinstall, assuming you have a
bootable CD setup. Save his Favourites folder, email addresses etc first,
and maybe net connection settings and anything else inside the Windows
folder (don't forget that any files or data kept on the Desktop will go),
and he should be eternally grateful.

Don Penlington








 From the beach at Surfers Paradise.
http://www.geocities.com/donaldpen/
for sunny Queensland photos, fractal art, free computer tutorials, and more.

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