I, like an idiot, followed the instructions on http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q271510 and deleted the protectedstorage key from my registry because I was having problems with Outlook Express starting VERY slowly. Well my problem is, I can not restore the pstores.exe as the instructions state because I am running XP pro rather than win98. My question is, will not having the pstores.exe cause me problems with any of may applications (OE ir IE, etc)? Everything seems to be running ok. Is there a way to restore the deleted key in the registry? (No I am an idiot and did not back up the registry) :) Please help. Thanks

Reinstall internet explorer... http://cws.internet.com/ie-ie6.html

Tried that, I got a message stating that I was currently running a newer version and setup could not continue... I assume this is because I used the IE6 update installer from windows update page. Will I run into any other problems?? OE seems to be working fine. I can send and receive emails just fine.

The protected storage key in the reg stores passwords. It will regenerate it's self if needed, usually if your using the full version of Outlook not Outlook Express.