Failed to open registry handle in ATIPOLL

Running Win2000
Able to login @Win2000 username screen
Tries to load personal settings
Receive error "Failed to open registry handle in ATIPOLL"
Click o.k.
NO desktop applications load
Blank desktop visible
PLEASE HELP....

THANK YOU,
NEWGIRL2004

 

Doesn't look to me like she can get that far, MT.

"ATIPOLL" is very likely a component of your system's video drivers. Its very likely you'll be able to boot Windows 2000 in VGA mode (resolution 640x480, 16 colors). Doing that is identical to booting windows 2000 in safe mode, except you pick VGA Mode instead of Safe Mode from the boot options list. That will let you get to the Windows desktop to do some troubleshooting and repair, and you will still be able to access the Internet.

Most likely the issue is caused by damaged motherboard or video drivers. As Mastertech suggested, installing Everest will allow you to correctly identify what your system is. We'll do the video card first, because that's more likely to solve the problem.

Open up Everest, and in the left pane expand Display and choose GPU. In the right pane, under Graphics Processor Properties, write down the name of your Video Adapter (should be the first thing). Then scroll down to the bottom of the right pane, and double-click the Driver Download link. Find the drivers for your card on the website (make sure they're for Windows 2000) and download them. If you can't find them, post your Video Adapter name here, and someone will be able to link you up with the right file. Once you get it, run the program to install the drivers. When it's finished, Windows will ask to restart. Let it restart into Normal mode, and (hopefully) the error will be gone.

If not, then you should download and install the most recent drivers for your motherboard's chipset. Go back into Everest, and this time expand Motherboard and choose Chipset. Just like before, the name you care about is the first thing in the right pane, and there's a download link as the last thing.

Hope this helps!