I found some wonderful speed tweaks that actually worked and I didn't even have to go into the registry (Tweak3D.net). I have hit a snag, however.

There are some settings for a file called 'MSDOS.SYS' and when I double click to open it, the menu says "Open with". This spells disaster for me as I totally ruined my programs using the wrong association one time. I have been reading for hours and I still cannot figure out how to determine which you choose to open a particular file. Most of the tutorials tell you to choose the most logical one--whose logic are they talking about? I will never understand this stuff! Why can't they have the computer pick out the association like it does with a lot of the files--you just double click and it opens?!

Can anyone help me with this file association stuff so I don't have to do a reinstall every time I open one of these files? Thanx!