When I boot up an error message window appears titled Windows Registry Checker. It says "Windows encountered an error accessing the registry. Windows will repair the registry for you and restart the computer." If I click OK the system reboots but the same error message window re-appears. I have run scandisk and scanreg /restore to an earlier date but the problem continues. Help!!

peterbl, Most likely a memory (RAM) problem. Could be loose, damaged, ect. You say, you have 256MB of RAM. If you know, is that one stick, or more, of RAM? You could limit the amount of memory, that windows uses. For diagnosis purpose. Restart, in safe mode. (Hold the "Ctrl" key down, when starting the computer. When you receive the menu, select/choose Safe Mode) Start, Run, type msconfig Press Enter. Then click the "Advanced" (button), at the bottom right. Mark the "Limit memory to []MB" and set it to 128MB. Then OK OK, and follow any prompts you receive. As in restarting the computer. When you restart the computer, after this. If the message is still there, restart the computer again, and see if still appears. If so, go back, and repeat what you did. But, set the amount of memory to 64MB. This, is one thing you could use, to test your memory (RAM). Knowing how many sticks of RAM you have, and if you are comfortable opening the computer case yourself. Also would be helpful information, to us. Thanks, and Good Luck

Crazyone - Thanks for your reply. I do not think its a RAM problem because if I ignore the window the system runs perfectly. By running control/alt/delete I can stop scanreg running and the warning window disappears. Using MSCONFIG I could stop scanreg running by default on startup but I am reluctant to do this.

peterbl, Yes, you could stop "scanregw.exe, from running at startup. That's part of my reasoning, as to why I said it's most likely a memory (RAM) problem. Scanregw.exe, is looking at the registry loaded into memory (RAM). Scanreg.exe, is looking, at the file. So, if there is a bad chip.... Well, I gave my two cents worth, and you gave me back one cent change lol Just joshing :-) Good Luck, and You're Welcome

Crazyone - I booted up this morning and no error window came up. Whatever I did must have worked. Good luck to you and many thanks for your suggestions.

peterbl Great the problem is gone. But, I would go to http://www.memtest86.com/ as CrazyOne suggested. Download the program and use it. I found a problem with one of my RAM sticks and had to throw it out. You could find the same thing.

peterbl, What did you do to take care of the problem? I'm coming up with the same thing. I've tried the things suggested here, but haven't had any luck. When I limit my RAM to 128, at startup, the computer still counts up to 384. thanks.