My problem is that on loading Office 2000 the toolbar just refuses to load. Have tried a complete uninstall and adding a toolbar that is in the menu. This refuses to allow me to use the correct toolbar and in anycase, if I make one up, it disappears on restart. Probably some small entry in the registry but cannot find it.

You are right that the problem is more than likely caused by a false or corrupt entry in the registry. Unfortunately, if there is a false or corrupt entry in the registry, uninstalling the software then reinstalling it will not help since during the uninstall procedure, registry entries are normally not removed. This is why it is always a good idea to backup your registry. To fix the problem you will probably need to reinstall Windows, which will give you a clean and fresh registry. It is always a good idea to reinstall Windows about every 6 months because if you are installing programs, etc… all the time, a lot of redundant files build up in your computer and in the registry. This slows down performance and, in a lot of cases, makes your computer more prone to crashes. However, if you are not familiar with backing up your files, doing a format, and reinstalling Windows or you don’t install many new programs, it is probably best to do a reinstall every year or so. When your computer is running smoothly, I suggest that you backup the registry. You can do this by going to the ‘Start’ menu > ‘Run’ and opening ‘regedit’. When this has opened, click the ‘Registry’ menu and click ‘Export Registry File’. Select a location to save the backup of your registry. Make sure that under the ‘Export Range’ heading ‘All’ is selected and then click the ‘Save’ button. NB: If the process does not work out for you, then you will need to import the backup registry. However, some applications which were changed since the last backup may function strangely because their entries will not be in the registry.