Help! Registry rights!!!

I

Ivan Debono

Hi all,

I have WinXP Home SP2. I'm logged in as an admin and created a normal user.
The user didn't have rights to install software so I went to the registry
and gave full rights on the HKCR and HKLM hives to the Users group. Then I
removed again.

Now I have weird problems with the PC.

Some symptons:
Norton Internet Security does load on startup
When I go to MyComputer I don't see the list of drives (and the search icon
keeps playing forever)
When I go to Windows Update it says that some files and not registered or I
don't have enough rights on the HKLM\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion key.

I made sure that I gave all the necessary rights. The admins group have all
the rights possible.

How can I fix the problem!??!?

Thanks,
Ivan
 
L

l

use system restore to go back to point before you made the change.
Install the software from the admin account, or download the software from
within the limited user account, save it to desktop, or wherever, then right
click and use the 'run as' credentials to install it.
 
I

Ivan Debono

From where do I download the software?

Ivan

l said:
use system restore to go back to point before you made the change.
Install the software from the admin account, or download the software from
within the limited user account, save it to desktop, or wherever, then
right click and use the 'run as' credentials to install it.
Click to expand...
 
I

Ivan Debono

System Restore shows me a restore point of 1 minute ago and no other!!!!!
HELP!!!!!
 
L

l

not sure what you mean, I thought you were talking about a specific software
that you already have.(.I don't think I said anything about downloading
software.)...insert the software disk, when it asks where you want to
install the setup files, select desktop, or wherever you will be able to
locate it..I always install to desktop, then later I move it to a folder
that I created just for storing the setup files...anyway, once the setup/exe
file is on the desktop...now , if you want to install the program from
within a limited user account, right click the exe/setup file and select
'run as' and use the admin credentials.

But I'm not sure why you wouldn't just use the admin account to install the
software.

Too bad about System Restore...if there are no other restore points, the
first thing I'd try is see if you can create restore points manually,,,if
not, then I'd turn it off entirely, then turn it back on.
 
L

l

of course, sorry, I got distracted from your main intent..if you have the xp
disk, do a repair install, it will leave your personal files intact while it
repairs your damaged files.
 
I

Ivan Debono

Did that too. I have the original XP disk that came with my Dell system.
Alas, that was over 2 years ago and I've upgraded to SP2 plus all other
patches. When I try to repair, it wants the SP2 CD which I don't have as I
downloaded it from the MS site :(

I was checking the Event Viewer, and there are error entries regarding a
COM+ file called comres.dll. Could that be the reason and how can I repair
it knowing that Windows Update doesn't work too?? :(
 
A

AJR

"Ivan" - standard precaution - do not mess with the registry - 95% of all
necessary registry changes can be made through the control panel. User
rights and permisions are assigned through share and/or NTFS settings. XP
Home does not provide an "Administrator" function as such - except through
safe mode.
Did you try safe mode, last known good configuration. etc.?
 
I

Ivan Debono

last good configuration doesn't exist. there aren't any restore points.

how can safe mode help me?
 
G

Guest

you should go ahead and delete the user-normal. that way you only have admin
and guest users. the next thing that might help is to simply unistall
norton. norton is a great program until it crashes, then it is simply
impossible to work with. i think that after you manually configure the above
changes, it may put your system in a more friendly mode to fix..... it might
be helpful for you to proceed with the above then we can take some additional
steps....
 
L

l

AJR said:
"Ivan" - standard precaution - do not mess with the registry - 95% of all
necessary registry changes can be made through the control panel. User
rights and permisions are assigned through share and/or NTFS settings. XP
Home does not provide an "Administrator" function as such - except
through safe mode.
Click to expand...

Yes, it does. A user account w/admin rights can be setup and that account
has all the same rights of the built-in admin account. The built-in admin
account can be accessed in safe mode once another account w/admin rights has
been created. If no account w/admin rights has been created, the the admin
account that is present at the welcome screen is the default admion
account...which should not be used for everyday purposes. So, creating an
account w/ admin rights is practical since it can be used to install
programs, make sysytem changes, etc without having to muck around with
either a limited account, or the default admin account.

I do, however, agree that unless you know a lot about the registry, you
shouldn't alter it, but if you do you should at the very least make sure
system restore is functioning first, and always back up the system before
making any changes.
 
I

Ivan Debono

tried to uninstall norton but it won't even uninstall.

I'll be trying if I manage in safe mode. next will be a format :)
 
L

l

Safe Mode runs with limited drivers, which in itself can help..but from the
admin account in safe mode you may be able to run a system file check, which
can replace damaged or missing dll's
From the Start>run command, type in
sfc /scannow
please note the space between sfc and /

Now, if you get a message that asks for your cd, and you put the cd in, you
may get the same type of error message about older/newer versions.
What you need to do then, is go to the i386 folder located on your xp disk,
and copy that to C:\

Then, open regedit from the 'run' command..I know, here goes that registry
thing again..but trust me, it'll be okay.
Locate this key,
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Setup
Now, look in the right hand pane and locate 'SourcePath' and double click
that, change the value data to C:\ as it likey is pointing to your cd drive
right now.
Close regedit, and try sfc again.

Now, as far as the SP2 cd, I don't know if you can still do this, but a
while back it was possible to go to any big box store, like Best Buy, ect
and get the Sp2 disk for free.
 
G

Guest

i wouldn't format. if you are willing to undergo this process, you may as
well do a windows "repair". when you insert windows cd in, select setup on
it. but before you do that, try this. first be sure that norton processes
are not loading up. go to run>services.msc and be sure that norton, symantec
services are stopped and disabled. next run>msconfig under startup tab
deslect everything. next go to your program files directory and delete all
the files for norton and or symantec. then reboot.... afterwards use a
registry cleaner like cc cleaner that you can get from file hippo.com the
cleaner will see norton references in your registry that have no supporting
files and will delete them from your registry. this process is under
cccleaners fix issues tab.... reboot, then let us know where you are at....
 
I

Ivan Debono

Did that apart from cleaning the registry.

Pc booted up and I'm back online. I still can't make a Windows Update
though.
 
G

Guest

incidently, repairing windows is the best method. but your backup system
files reside in Systemroot\System32\Config the back up may have been
produced from your corrupted registry. so look at the date time to see if
they are dated a few days ago. if so, you will be able to restore your
registry from them. if not then you also have the "original" registry as
well. but this would not be good to restore since it would omit any of your
installed software. you could however, compare this with your recently
revised version and maybe manually rebuild your registry.... but it would
probably be easier to repair windows since it will save you some time and
headaches and will leave your softwares intact....
 

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