I have a dell dimension 8300, with 1.5 something memory and a 250 something hard drive. I'm retired and know nothing about computers. Computer was running poorly and Dell replaced the MB again, network on MB, power supply and CD-Rom. I used the Dell recovery discs to reload the computer since stuff was working wrong and I figured it did something to the hard drive. Put SP2 on and Paint Shop Pro programs that I'm addicted to wouldn't work right, the printer HP Photosmart 2610 wouldn't work and I couldn't get Norton anti-virus or firewall to load right. I tried to uninstall the SP2 and it blue screened the computer and wiped it. I've put the stuff back in mostly without SP2 and now get the System 32 File Coming up on Startup. Computer friend never heard of this. Microsoft said to use the registry editor but I can't find that on the machine even using search. Does anyone have a fix that someone who doesn't understand computers can do? We don't know if we should reinstall everything again or what to do. We're retired and use the computer for fun things mostly. I need help.

Did Microsoft give you the instructions you need once you get into the Registry Editor?

To get to the Registry Editor, go to Start, Run, and type in regedit; click OK and the Registry Editor will open.

Before you edit the registry, you should make a backup. At the top of the Registry window, click on the Registry menu, click Export Registry File. In the Export range panel, click All, then save your registry as Backup.

Make the changes you want, then exit the Registry Editor.

If you end up needing to reinstall, here are complete instructions:
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread6632.html

Since SP2 caused problems before, you may not want to try it again, but here is some info on it if you're interested:
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread10031.html

Someone else told me that this is a very common problem with Dell's and the SB Audigy 2. All I had to do was go to:Start/All Programs/Creative/Sound Blaster/Audigy2/Welcome Message. When the welcome message comes up, check---Do Not show this again. It took care of it. I can't image why a program would cause that. Thanks for telling me how to get to the editor. I told my husband that our computer was missing it. DUH Microsoft said what to look for but this was much easier for someone who doesn't know their way around the computer.
Hope this helps someone else with a Dell who has the problem.

That was a pretty simple fix, Thanks for posting it. I'll try to remember that in case it comes up again!

I'm going to mark this as solved; even though we didn't help, there is a solution to the problem :D

I have just restarted my machine and no System 32 window. Brilliant! That has been bugging me for a whole year. Who would have thought of such a solution and what genius realised it?

I have a dell dimension 8300, with 1.5 something memory and a 250 something hard drive. I'm retired and know nothing about computers. Computer was running poorly and Dell replaced the MB again, network on MB, power supply and CD-Rom. I used the Dell recovery discs to reload the computer since stuff was working wrong and I figured it did something to the hard drive. Put SP2 on and Paint Shop Pro programs that I'm addicted to wouldn't work right, the printer HP Photosmart 2610 wouldn't work and I couldn't get Norton anti-virus or firewall to load right. I tried to uninstall the SP2 and it blue screened the computer and wiped it. I've put the stuff back in mostly without SP2 and now get the System 32 File Coming up on Startup. Computer friend never heard of this. Microsoft said to use the registry editor but I can't find that on the machine even using search. Does anyone have a fix that someone who doesn't understand computers can do? We don't know if we should reinstall everything again or what to do. We're retired and use the computer for fun things mostly. I need help.

I was searching for an answer as to how to stop this very thing... I built my own computer, and I can assure you that the problem was caused by a "Trojan" because that's what caused mine. I've removed the Trojan and cleaned the registry, but I can't find the culprit that is opening the System 32 folder. I know it is because the Trojan is designed to reinstall from an executable in that folder, which I've removed, but the command to open the folder is hidden amongst the myriad instructions that windows has in the startup environment, and I haven't been able to locate the line which opens the folder. If I have any luck, I'll get back to you.:cry:

I was searching for an answer as to how to stop this very thing... I built my own computer, and I can assure you that the problem was caused by a "Trojan" because that's what caused mine. I've removed the Trojan and cleaned the registry, but I can't find the culprit that is opening the System 32 folder. I know it is because the Trojan is designed to reinstall from an executable in that folder, which I've removed, but the command to open the folder is hidden amongst the myriad instructions that windows has in the startup environment, and I haven't been able to locate the line which opens the folder. If I have any luck, I'll get back to you.:cry:

I found this much at thre Microsoft Site, and it begins with Going to Run and typing in Regedit,
Use Registry Editor to view the following two Windows registry keys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Verify that all the values in these keys do not contain any incorrect, incomplete, or null entries (such as "").
Also look for a command to run something that isn't there, that will leave the folder open. I had a command to run the Virus that I had deleted.....:o

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