"BTW, since you are worried about he registry, did you ever do a registry backup(?)
Yes, I know about registry back-ups and do one if I feel the need. Have you ever heard of system.da0 and system.da1? Its a little more complicated in XP, just like everything else in XP, but registry recovery is pretty simple(as long as you don't keep rebooting).
It seems that I'm trying to help someone but semi-qualified guys are ripping me. I DO know more than you, and while I respect your knowledge, I don't understand why you're challenging me rather than taking the opportunity to learn.
Sorry I wasn't trying to rip you. But most people miss backin it up.
And I'm not semi-qualified. I've worked with Microsoft on their internals. And can back that up with 35 years of experience in software.
FWIW - "I DO know more than you" - you better know the person you say that to, before you say it.