General Chat

There is one very important thing to remember which has not been mentioned. If you perform a complete reinstall you will LOSE EVERYTHING.
Also, don't go poking around in the registry unless you really have to and know EXACTLY what you are doing because one slip-up and you can totally stuff the machine - there are far easier, more sensible and safer ways to find product keys. Belarc Advisor is very good.
There is no need to do a (drastic and radical) reinstall at this moment - run decent anti-virus, anti-malware, management tools etc.
More than happy to help if you get stuck.

Thankyou Rollo

I will get the disc reloaded,best way to go as you said .
It is nice to know that at my age I can still learn , never let it happen again.
Thankyou very much.

Errol is correct about Belarc.
Get it here:
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
As well as Windows serial it will display the registration details of all yr software and a lot of other useful stuff besides.
For most people using XP all of the data and documents will be in "My Documents". The easiest way to back it up is to CD-R or DVD-R depending on how large the folder is. Another method is to use a 2nd hard drive.
N.B. make sure your antivirus software is running and up to date before restoring your data.

There are various ways of backing up browser data depending on the browser you use. Make sure you do this as losing history and favorites can be annoying.

tip: Microsoft have a technology called ClearType. This runs automatically in Vista, Win7 & 8. With XP it must be set to run by the user. It makes a dramatic difference to font rendering.

Errolsheep

Thankyou for your offer,it is very nice of you .

This computer terrifies me ,there is so much to learn.

I am convinced it may have something to do with restore points ,every time my computer plays up if I have done something I should not have I do go to Systems restore so if I could delete the old restore point as Rollo said I may get ride of the problem.

Am I clutching at straws or what ?

I do have Belarc Advisor and just plain belarc...all my components are up to date and according to belarc my computer is running fine ...no nasties found .
I have updated all I can see with the Windows updater.

What do you mean by "just plain belarc"?

Have you decided which route to go down?

Also, are you familiar with hijackthis software?

Hi Errol

I went in search of Belarc after it was mentioned I do already have it ,in the search two came up Belarc and Belarc Advisor.

I am still toying around as to what is the best way to go ,it all cost money i do not have at the moment.

I did manage to delete my past restore points all but the last one .
I reran my Malwarebytes again and this time it found 76 bugs in File and the registry.
They are all the same bug
A little Green bug first then it says in Red .....PUP.Optional Pri some have Sp after them some have Ne and Co after them .
I am treating these as a virus ,they are now all in the quarantine area of malwarebytes.
I am not familiar with hijackthis software.
Thankyou for your help ,it all teaches me the Computer :-D
All the little things I am doing is improving things on my Computer bit by bit:-D

Sue

I now have MSConfig.exe back where it should be.

I realy think I have my Computer running better than ever.

Restore points did it I think.

Thankyou for your help.

Just an update

I have now got my Computer back from shop.

It did need wiping and reloading with Xp it was very corrupted.

It is now all up and running very well,I must admit it was not nice having no working Computer in the house.

Thankyou for all your help and advice :-D

Susan :-D