Wordpad has caused an error in mfc42.dll

This little error comes courtesy of some registry corruption. Many applications use MFC42.DLL including Wordpad and Paint. If when attempting to start Wordpad you get the error that it has caused an error in mfc42.dll (or invalid page fault, whatever) then follow the following instructions:

Go to the Control Panel and open Add/Remove Programs
Click the Windows Setup tab, enter the Accessories folder
Clear the checkboxes next to Wordpad and Paint, and click OK
Click Start->Run and type REGEDIT. Click OK
Browse to the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Applets\Wordpad and delete it
Close Regedit and restart your machine
Open Add/Remove Programs again, and re-check the boxes next to Wordpad and Paint. Click OK (Your Windows CD will be required)

The re-adding of the program with the registry keys deleted will force the application to recreate the keys that were damaged new. After Windows is done copying the files try to run Wordpad, it should start fine now.