My apologies if this has already been covered...I am VERY unskilled with computers and what the search function here revealed did not seem to match my prob.

I have a Dell XPS desktop pentium 4 (windows XP home edition version 2002 service pack 2) and upon turning it on the "System32" file opens up across my desk top. It does this everytime and takes about 5 minutes to do so. The "system32" bar in the bottom left next to the START bar will flash from orange to blue for a minute or two and will finally go solid blue and stay so. If I try to do ANYTHING prior to this file opening and the bar going solid blue the SYSTEM locks up and I'm forced to turn off the computer and start from scratch.

Once it has opened fully and the bar is solid blue I am able to close the file and all is fine from there on.

Both Dell and others have told me this is more than likely caused by a missing punctuation mark somewhere in my registry...but not to go near it unless I know what I'm doing...which I do not.

I have tried 6 different registry cleaning software products and tho they all show many errors and clean/fix them it does not solve this problem.

Dell tells me that the only THING left would be to wipe my hard drive 100% and re-load everything from scratch...which scares me due to my lack of computer knowledge.

Once again, sorry if this is an old topic...

UPDATE:
Thanks everyone.

While awaiting a response I decided to just go ahead and follow the directions I had regarding my registry.

I found several lines which began and ended with quotation marks and edited out those marks...and there seemed to be an extra space between the last letter in one word and the "-" following it which I removed from another line. All is well now after having this prob for a long time.

The directions I had, mentioned fixing any wrong or missing words in the string (like I would know if they were...lol) and then said to remove any null symbols such as ""...
Dummy me I thought by null they meant two quotation marks with nothing in between them...seems they meant ANY quotation marks.

Took my best guess and did it...was beginning to think I would have to wipe the hard drive anyway...so why not give it a shot. And it worked.

Thanks again for the help...just love this site : )

P.S. I'm saving your ideas on this prob to my documents file in case it should begin again.You can try this, go to Start, Run, and type msconfig. Select selective startup, and click the startup tab. Look in the Startup Item list, (first column), and see if the system32 file itself is in the list by name. You will see some things that run under the command column in the system32, but look for system32 in the Startup item list. If it is there uncheck the box next to it and click apply, then ok to restart.

Hope this helps!! You may have some infection....

Print these instructions out.

1. Download SUPERAntiSpyware Free for Home Users:
http://www.superantispyware.com/

* Double-click SUPERAntiSpyware.exe and use the default settings for installation.
* An icon will be created on your desktop. Double-click that icon to launch the program.
* If asked to update the program definitions, click "Yes". If not, update the definitions before scanning by selecting "Check for Updates". (If you encounter any problems while downloading the updates, manually download and unzip them from here: http://www.superantispyware.com/definitions.html.)
* Close SUPERAntiSpyware.

Restart computer in Safe Mode.
To enter Safe Mode, restart computer, and keep tapping F8 key, until menu appears; pick Safe Mode; you'll see "Safe Mode" in all four corners of your screen

* Open SUPERAntiSpyware.
* Under "Configuration and Preferences", click the Preferences button.
* Click the Scanning Control tab.
* Under Scanner Options make sure the following are checked (leave all others unchecked):
o Close browsers before scanning.
o Scan for tracking cookies.
o Terminate memory threats before quarantining.
* Click the "Close" button to leave the control center screen.
* Back on the main screen, under "Scan for Harmful Software" click Scan your computer.
* On the left, make sure you check C:\Fixed Drive.
* On the right, under "Complete Scan", choose Perform Complete Scan.
* Click "Next" to start the scan. Please be patient while it scans your computer.
* After the scan is complete, a Scan Summary box will appear with potentially harmful items that were detected. Click "OK".
* Make sure everything has a checkmark next to it and click "Next".
* A notification will appear that "Quarantine and Removal is Complete". Click "OK" and then click the "Finish" button to RETURN to the main menu.
* If asked if you want to reboot, click "Yes".
* To retrieve the removal information after reboot, launch SUPERAntispyware again.
o Click Preferences, then click the Statistics/Logs tab.
o Under Scanner Logs, double-click SUPERAntiSpyware Scan Log.
o If there are several logs, click the current dated log and press View log. A text file will open in your default text editor.
o Please copy and paste the Scan Log results in your next reply with a NEW HIJACKTHIS log.
* Click Close to exit the program.
Post SUPERAntiSpyware log.

RESTART COMPUTER!

2. Download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (http://www.majorgeeks.com/Malwarebytes_Anti-Malware_d5756.html) to your desktop.

* Double-click mbam-setup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
* At the end, be sure a checkmark is placed next to Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, then click Finish.
* If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version.
* Once the program has loaded, select Perform full scan, then click Scan.
* When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results.
* Be sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.
* When completed, a log will open in Notepad.
* Post the log back here.

The log can also be found here:
C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\Logs\log-date.txt
Or at C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\Logs\log-date.txt

RESTART COMPUTER!

3. Download HijackThis:
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/hijackthis.html
Post HijackThis log.