taskbar and folder options inCP

Can you help me?

I find that I can open the Taskbar and Start Menu Options folder, as well as
the Folder Options folder in the Control Panel, but only when i am in Safe
Mode.
In regular mode, these folders are not configurable. Also, the settings
that appear in Safe Mode apply and work fine in Safe. However, in Regular
mode, from Boot to full Windows Desktop appearance, these settings are
ignored.

When I open Windows, I can see the taskbar (and Quick Launch, Systray) open,
but after a few seconds they disappear. The desktop icons likewise work in
Safe Mode, but disappear in regular operation mode.

There is no right click menu. (Haven't tried that in safe mode.. Why? I
didn't need it there, since I get the usual Safe Mode black screen.)

In regular mode, the desktop image and screen savers work just fine.

These problems appear to me to be a registry problem. Is there some way I
can check the registry and see if any errors are detected? No errors appear
in my Device Manager.
(XP) on 512 Mem. AMD HD, 2000 MHz processor. eMachines.

I browse with Task Manager to open, and then can surf my HD and open
programs with IE. It is just awkward. I don't notice any other problems
with my setup.

Pat
durkinpa at msn com