system file corrupt!

[keybowvio]

sorry about all these problems recently, but here goes another one:
i was using my computer normally, i opened ms word and a yellow balloon pops up from the task bar (like when it detects new hardware etc.) it says the following:

"the file or directory c:\windows\system32 is corrupt and unreadable. Please run the chkdsk utility."

the balloon went away, but every time i launch a program it came back. this happened for an hour, then the balloon stopped appearing.

before the balloon went away I went into controll panel to check on it, to see if it was allright, and it wasn't, half of the icons were missing, dissapeared, not there gone! after the balloon stopped appearing, i went into controll panel again, and all the icons were there again, magic!

also, this is the computer w/o internet.

1. is it safe to turn off my computer, or has a part of the registry been corrupted?
2. how do I run chkdsk? 3. what happened???

thanks for any and all advice

[Gecko]

Go to my computer and right click on your C drive select properties go to the tools tab.
In the error checking section click the check now button put a check next to automatically fix system errors.
Now click the start button you will get a window stating the it cannot do it now click on yes to check on restart.

[keybowvio]

so you suspect that it is safe to restart my computer, and that the registry has not been corrupted?

also, when chckdsk runs, how long should it take,
i have a 180 gig drive, but only about 10 gig is used, and it is divided into two partitions, 90/90 both are windows partitions, one partition contains no data.

[Gecko]

Yes it should be safe to restart the system.
A chkdsk will check to make sure the registry and other system files are intact.
If there is a problem it will use backup files to compare to and replace if needed.

[keybowvio]

so, i did the chkdsk, and after, it rebooted and windows started normally, no more balloons either, so is that it?

[Gecko]

That's it, you are good to go

[keybowvio]

thanks, where would i be without you