Thanks Justin. Makes sense to me. Unfortunately, System Restore has also quit working on my computer and I really don't know how to troubleshoot it. I'm not much of a computer 'geek', but I am trying to learn. These forums have many, many savvy users and good ideas, and computers when they don't work right are frankensteins. My computer is a Dimension 8200 which I bought in Oct 2001. It was one of the first computers from Dell that came with Windows XP factory installed. I have reformatted my hard drive and reinstalled Windows XP this past Dec. My System Restore was not working before that and has not worked since the reformat. I have some system backup software, Retrospect Express HD, which came with a Maxtor Peripheral hard drive, intalled on my computer. I have tried to use it a couple of times as a substitute for System Restore and both times my computer went haywire and would not boot up. I thought I was going to have to reformat again, but I tried the Repair option that came on the Windows XP OEM version which came with my computer and I got my computer operational again without a complete reformat. BUT after the System Repair my computer takes a long time to boot up, 7 or 8 minutes. I'm wondering if I should attempt another reformat, which is very painful since all applications have to be reinstalled, or if there is something less radical that I could try.
Sidney