Hmmmm... Have you run something like Norton's WinDoctor in Utilities? Because that -looks- an awful lot like a crosslink problem in the ActiveXCOM section of your registry. Windows is notorious for leaving registry stubs (and for that matter, too many other programs do as well) and HP is notorious for 'customizing' Windows and creating issues. What you are -seeing- is into one of the system dll's for the windows GUI display. I've seen mouse drivers cause that (you don't have a scrollwheel set to web-wheel, do you? That one is plain =evil= with graphics programs of many flavors). If you haven't done so, then buy or borrow a copy of Norton Utilities, back up the registry, and let it traipse merrily over your platters. You may be appalled at the number of errors you will be presented with. If that doesn't work, you will definitely need a registry guru.... :