WinXP Pro client on SBS 2000 Network

[vree]

WinXP, 512MG ram, on SBS 2000 network.
In the beginning with this pc, the identity was corrupt, and had to be hosed and resetup. (My only slight guess to that, was the user keeps large numbers of files on the desktop, I was told that can contribute to problems on XP. if not someone please enlighten.)

User has done multiple installations over the past year of office and recently Adobe, PDF Writer and Distiller. I recently upgraded the memory to 512 on this machine, the user is now having problems and cannot open Word, receiving the error "not a valid Win32 application". I would like to be educated as to the impact multiple installations of software has on a pc and can this contribute to the problem the user is having.

 

[bcastner]

90% of the time the error message you are seeing is the result of a virus. There are several variants, but a virus none the less.

Update your virus definitions and rescan if you can, it might not be possible on the local machine. You can use free on-line virus scanners, this is a good one:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

On another note, there is no bug I know of about limits on the number of files or folders on the Desktop, although it is a rather inelegant filing system. If you are referring to the default limits on folder property customizations, the default is 400 but can easily be adjusted upwards. TweakUI a freeware download from Microsoft will do it handily, although the registry tweak is easily Googled and simple to make.

If this were my machine I would do a clean install.