Roxanne Pierce wrote:

        I do not have the theory behind why shutting Windows down improperly
(via the
        power switch, the reset button, or CTRL-ALT-DEL) corrupts Windows
system files,
        but I can tell you from experience that over time it absolutely
does. ...

        I agree. I've seen similar results with the folks I've supported.
I've recommended that folks do a Shutdown at least weekly. I know that
memory leaks, etc. just seem to squirrel away Win95 system resources, so the
Shutdown brings the system to a nicely known state, and as Roxanne states
the problems are far fewer and less catastrophic.

        I've also seen that rebuilding (reformat, then freshly installing
the operating system and applications) a PC does result in very positive
comments by the users as to how faster the PC now seems. It seems like about
every 18-24 months has been my experience of when the "weird" problems seem
to be of the "weirdness" to warrant a rebuild (I really wish Windows could
be "refreshed" easier). I suspect that the refresh now includes all the new
updated drivers, Service Packs, patches, etc. which probably helps. I keep
wondering about whether products lie OilChange etc would provide that, but
the recent discussions seem to indicate that those products are coming
along, but still have a ways to go, (yeah, I know Windows 98 purports to
resolve all that - I suspect that history has shown that Win98 will help,
but other issues will crop up!).

Paul Bennett
Hudson, MA