Re the Start Bar location. As mentioned, you can just click on any blank space on the bar and drag it to any side of the screen - unless the bar location has been locked.

If you right click on a blank part of the bar, one of the options that should be there is "Lock Toolbar." If it has a check mark beside it, you'll need to click to remove the check in order to be able to move the bar. Once you get it where you want it, you can right-click again and click to lock it where you put it.

Another "trick" that prompts questions occasionally is the "disappearing Start Bar." If you hover over the top edge of the bar and get a "two headed arrow" you can drag the bar off of the screen at it's nearest edge. This is sometimes handy if you need all the screen space. To get it back just hover over the edge where it disappeared, get the arrow, and drag back up. If you drag the "screen-side" edge of the Start bar away from the edge while you have the double arrow you also can make it a two-row (or two column) bar in some Win versions - with some settings, although this one is a bit less likely to work.

Re the dirty Registry:

If you use the Control Panel Add/Remove Programs to remove programs, the Registry entries associated with the program should be removed, since this "runs the installation script backwards" and undoes everything that was done at installation.

Not all programs "register" when they install, and for some of them, the program itself should have an uninstall in the program folder that will clean the registry when you run it. The "uninstall" is often given a "cute" name so it may be a trick to find it. At least one program maker uses "unwise.exe" - just as an example.

If the program does not appear when you go to the Control Panel Add/Remove section AND IF there is no uninstall file in the program folder, it should mean that there were no Registry entries associated with it and you can just delete the folder if it's from an ethical maker. Unfortunately quite a few programs deliberately attempt to make uninstalling their stuff difficult, and don't provide standard installations - especially DRM (digital rights management a. la. Sony) components in "media" programs and the Spyware embedded in file sharing programs (see Kazaa).

John