In reading several posts I note mention of using the 'Event Viewer' as a tool for problem solving. Since I currently have a 'Boot Up' problem I figured this may be a good thing to look at. Note that I have looked at the Event logs for the boot issue previously. However, this P.M. I thought I might look again to see if I could figure out where my 'Boot up' was taking a nose dive and starting over again. Damn!! This 'Event Viewer' has five entries and I assume you all know what those 5 are. The old double-click trick on any of them has the same BAD result. Lord, what kind of crazy crap is this!! The resulting informative box states, "Unable to complete the operation on '----------------------------------' (whichever one you clicked on)" Followed by the wonderful news that "The INTERFACE is unknown". It's a wonderful life is it not?? So full of surprises to make your day! So it would seem that my Windows XP has decided to 'Disavow any knowledge of the Event Viewers action' or perhaps existence also!! Anyone seen this trick before?? Really hate the thoughts of another re-install. Maybe this is an undercover thing by Microsoft to download updates that screw some things up that will prompt you to rush out and buy Windows 7. I intended to do that soon anyway, but this may convince me to do it sooner. THANX!! And, pardon my bad puns but I could use a laugh!!

Very punny errrr, i mean funny!

But seriously.. never seen your problem before. It's a real first!! Are you running XP Pro or Home?

Is XP Home version. And, as I mentioned, I had looked at these logs previously in regard to my BOOT problem but failed to write anything down. Now, forget it, I can't access any of them!! Perhaps an attempt at a REPAIR????

CALM DOWN. event viewer is useless.

I am very calm and must stay that way at 73 years old. The fact that you claim that the 'Event Viewer' is useless does not explain why it is dead. Useless or not it is supposed to work!!! THANX!!

Doing a repair with your Windows CD may turn out to be the easiest fix though:
> What XP SP release do you have installed?
> What version of XP is on your XP CD??
> Is your XP CD direct from Microsoft or is it from a Dell, HP, Gateway, etc?

You might also check if your Event Log service is running.

Click Start->Run, enter: services.msc
Now scroll down to look for Event Log. Is StartupType= Automatic and Status= Started?

The OS is now SP3 (via automatic update from Microsoft) on a Windows XP Home Upgrade. This is a homemade system and not from a proprietary mfg. I can not recall from whom I purchased the OS be it Microsoft itself or some other vendor. The Event Log is on Automatic and the attempts to start this result in a Error 126: Specified module could not be found. Perhaps a shot at an install Repair might do the trick. May try! THANX!!!

Yea, sounds like a repair is your best bet. But you may also find that your SP3 installation is more recent then your CD (if its only SP1 or SP2). In which case, the repair attempt will give you an error message. Then you'll need to build an SP3 disk using a process called "slipstreaming")