Betty wrote:
>When it boots up there is
>a system 32 file that opens on the screen.  I click to close it out -
>but have no idea why it is there and how to get rid of it so it doesn't
>open each time I reboot.>>


Run Msconfig (Start button/Run, type msconfig). Go to the Startup tab and 
untick all items you don't need running all the time.  It won't let you 
disable anything vital to the system, and you can always re-tick anything 
later if you find you want it at startup. The less you have running the 
better, both for performance and stability.

I wouldn't worry about using any registry cleaners. They rarely do anything 
much, and you'll never notice any difference after using one. Occasionally 
I use JV16 Powertoools, which is reckoned to be the best of the registry 
cleaners, but even after clearing out hundreds of so-called "errors" 
(mostly dead or orphaned references) I've never noticed any difference in 
performance. All it really does is make me feel good!

The actual space/memory saving on modern systems is miniscule. An 
aggressive clean might at best delete perhaps 50Kb---hardly significant 
when modern registries may be 20 Mb or more.

System Restore backs up and replaces the registry as part of its function 
so you could always use that if necessary.

By far and away the best registry maintenance is a system of manual backups 
and restores. It only takes a few seconds every few months using ERUNT and 
you will always have a clean registry to restore whenever you need it. Keep 
several differently dated backups. See my web tutorials below for detailed 
info on how to use this.

Don Penlington






 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html

      "Hold No Punches.." Rode brings you great shareware/freeware
        programs with his honest opinions in this weekly column.
                       http://freepctech.com/rode