Mary writes:

<<There was a message that Windows
had detected a corrupt file in the registry, ....Any ideas what happened
and why?>>

Could be 1000's of possible reasons---forced or improper shutdowns,
poorly-maintained system, software/hardware conflict/failure, power surge,
too many progs running, are a few of the more common ones. It's important
to maintain a good system of registry backups, and use them regularly. Over
time, the registry will gradually become more flaky, till you end up with
the results you describe, or possibly when Windows absolutely refuses to
open at all.

It's a not-uncommon problem with W98/ME . XP is much more stable.

See my tutorial on registry backups for more info.

I notice in your other letter that you use Yahoo Messenger. From what I've
read (I've never used it or anything like it) this is a huge security risk,
especially on broadband. It's an open target for hackers, and you should be
running a very tightly-secured system if you want to avoid these sorts of
problems.

My guess, from your Yahoo-related  problem, is that your computer has been
hacked into, and the two problems could be related, and could possibly be
symptomatic of more serious problems.

I suggest you download all the usual freeware programs which are often
mentioned in this forum, and give your computer a good cleanout.

You'll find a lot of good security freeware here
http://www.wilders.org/downloads.htm. You should be running a good firewall
(ZoneAlarm is free).

Visit  http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/ and do an online virus check.

Visit the Shields-Up site and do the free security check.
http://www.grc.com/. Also download and install his little freeware security
patches.

Whether these will prevent future registry corruptions depends entirely on
the present state of your system.

Don Penlington






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