Start the registry editor. This is done by clicking Start then Run. (The Run dialog will appear.) Type regedit and click OK. (The registry editor will open.) Browse to the key: 'HKEY LOCAL MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run' In the right pane, delete the value called 'plathping.exe', if it exists. Exit the registry editor. Restart your computer. Start Windows Explorer and delete: %SystemDir%\plathping.exe Note: %SystemDir% is a variable (?). By default, this is C:\Windows\System (Windows 95/98/Me), C:\WINNT\System32 (Windows NT/2000), or C:\Windows\System32 (Windows XP).