You may have heard the term computer registry but not know what it means. This
article defines the term and outlines some common problems your registry may
develop.
What it is: Your computer sets aside some space on its hard drive in a place
called a registry. This is used for storing information about the operational
settings of your computer, such as user profiles, system details, and
application-specific information. You can think of it as a kind of electronic
notepad that your computer uses to remember important information about its own
operation at the system level. Information is constantly being written to and
then deleted from your computer registry.
What can go wrong: Given all of this activity at such an important level of your
computer's regular operations, registry errors can and do occur frequently. This
is an extremely common problem and it is likely that most computers have at
least a few registry errors. For example, when you remove a program, this action
might accidentally delete or overwrite data that is vital to the smooth
operation of your system. In addition to errors, registries on computers that
are more than a year old can start to build up a cache of essentially useless
data that in effect clogs up your system....

Registry Repair: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/regrepairsbv