"Are there ways to make your computer faster?" My sister asked me when I gave her my Windows laptop. I can't repair the corrupt registry so I told her that I need to reinstall my Windows XP.

Here are some of the errors we saw:

Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: WINDOWSSYSTEM32CONFIGSYSTEM

Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: WINDOWSSYSTEM32CONFIGSOFTWARE

Stop: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive (file): SystemRootSystem32ConfigSOFTWARE or its log or alternate

"How can you repair registry problems? She asked me. I had to tell her that I must reformat and reinstall.

"But I don't like you to reformat this laptop. I have a lot of things here and I don't like to back up my things 'coz it takes so long. Is there a way to speed up your computer without reformatting," she said.

Are you having the same conversation with someone not as technical as you are? Or are you someone not very technical and can easily identify with this story? Fix your corrupt registry to speed up your computer.

It's common to find a corrupt registry really smoke your Windows install. There are times that you can't even boot up with a corrupt registry. However, if you have a congested registry, you can still boot up and prevent a corrupt registry.

I searched for corrupt registry fixes and I found some very informative things I learned that I need not reformat my Windows install. I also learned about ARS or Automated recovery System. This Automated Recovery System is included in your Windows XP CD, by the way.

All you really need is to boot your Windows XP CD-Rom and copy a few files to a floppy disk. If you have already copied the said important files then you don't need to do this. Unfortunately there is no automated, one-click way to repair a corrupt registry. You really have to brush up on your DOS commands skill in the Recovery Console.

The best thing to avoid a corrupt registry is to delete orphaned and invalid registry entries.

This will not only help you maintain the health of your PC but it will also speed it up significantly. As always, prevention is better than the cure. You can opt to maintain and keep your registry in tip top shape, or you can wait until it becomes a blob of spaghetti and explode into a useless gray mass of steel and silicon.

Get a registry scanner that is cater to your specific needs and then use it to maintain the condition of your registry. Windows XP is like an old Volkswagen Beetle.  You need to maintain it in order to keep it in shape and ready for action. If you don't maintain your PC, it will surely be unreliable and conk out on you when you least expect it.