In a fit of spring cleaning I decided to clean up my computer (xp sp2) as it was getting full. I found a folder marked “temp” in user/local settings/ and deleted most of the files in it. (they are only temporary files right? Not needed any more? 
)
Ever since then some the computers been a bit wonky. One odd thing. When I open a new window on a file or disk, the name on the taskbar on the bottom and in the top of the opened window is wrong and is just given a single letter e.g. N. instead of its real name (even the C drive is renamed I or something). This make it hard to find something on the taskbar and is potentially worrying (is by computer about to fall over?) Will a system restore help? Or will I have to reinstall xp?
Do you have Mijenix ZipMagic 98, Documagix Papermaster 98, eFax HotSend, Printmaster Live, or IconLock installed?
If you’re running IE7 go to Tools, Manage Add-ons, Enable or Disable Add-ons and disable the browser helper objects one at a time to see if one of them is the problem.
If none of the above apply I can go into more detail.
In short, no.
Windows almost always has 2 or 3 ass-loads of temporary files open at any one time, and just because they are temporary doesn’t mean they aren’t being used right then. You should never, ever delete a file that has the current date as its created or modified date unless you are absolutely certain you know what it is.
I’d recommend using XP’s recovery console thingamajiggy to try to restore the registry to a point before you did your spring cleaning. You might come out of it okay.
thanks for the advice - wil try tonight when I get home