registry file failure

R

rrose selavy

Everytime I restart Win2Kpro I get a Registry File Failure. Then a "dump."
Then this reoccurs when it tries again. Then a third time - after which the
system books fine and everything works okay. Sometimes it only takes two
attempts, but usually three.

I've run several Repairs from the 4 diskette set.

Another thing...perhaps related; perhaps not. I have a CD/DVD drive. It
works fine when the system is running ... but the computer will not boot to
it. I checked the Boot Sequence in the BIOS and even though the CD/DVD drive
is at the top of the list there is no plus (+) sign next to it. If I boot to
the C:\ from the diskettes I cannot change to the CD\DVD using any drive
letter attempt.

Possible Cause/Solution????
 
J

Jud

rrose selavy said:
Everytime I restart Win2Kpro I get a Registry File Failure. Then a "dump."
Then this reoccurs when it tries again. Then a third time - after which the
system books fine and everything works okay. Sometimes it only takes two
attempts, but usually three.

I've run several Repairs from the 4 diskette set.

Another thing...perhaps related; perhaps not. I have a CD/DVD drive. It
works fine when the system is running ... but the computer will not boot to
it. I checked the Boot Sequence in the BIOS and even though the CD/DVD drive
is at the top of the list there is no plus (+) sign next to it. If I boot to
the C:\ from the diskettes I cannot change to the CD\DVD using any drive
letter attempt.

Possible Cause/Solution????

I dont know about the registry failure but as for the CD rom I have a DVD
Drive that wont let you boot from it but I can boot from the CDRom unit I
have, I think some aren't ATAPI compatible and as such aren't a bootable
device.

Jud
 
R

rrose selavy

have, I think some aren't ATAPI compatible and as such aren't a bootable

Thanks. I guess "some" is the keyword here. I have another computer that
will boot from the CD\DVD combo drive.
 
D

Dave Patrick

You didn't mention the hive. Assuming the system hive and you already tried
LKG, It may be possible to rename the system hive found in
%windir%\system32\config\system
to system.old
then rename
%windir%\system32\config\system.alt
to
%windir%\system32\config\system

You can also try using the most recent backup found in
%windir%\repair\regback

If that fails you haven't much choice but to copy/ use the
original-as-installed system hive from
%windir%\repair\system
to
%windir%\system32\config\system
You'll need to reinstall the device drivers for any hardware added since the
original OS install.

If the software hive, it may be possible to rename the software hive found
in;
%windir%\system32\config\software
to software.old
then copy the most recent backup found in
%windir%\repair\regback
as
%windir%\system32\config\software

If that fails you can copy/ use the file
%windir%\repair\software
This file is an image of the hive at the time the OS was installed, so you'd
have to reinstall all software. This being the case you might just as well
blow it away and start a new install. (note: this would at least allow you
to start the OS to make any necessary backups prior to wiping the drive.)

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks.
Press ENTER at the "Setup Notification" screen. Press R to repair a Windows
2000 installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The
Recovery Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do
not have the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted
or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,
and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,
you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard
disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer:
%systemroot% and %windir%

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Everytime I restart Win2Kpro I get a Registry File Failure. Then a "dump."
| Then this reoccurs when it tries again. Then a third time - after which
the
| system books fine and everything works okay. Sometimes it only takes two
| attempts, but usually three.
|
| I've run several Repairs from the 4 diskette set.
|
| Another thing...perhaps related; perhaps not. I have a CD/DVD drive. It
| works fine when the system is running ... but the computer will not boot
to
| it. I checked the Boot Sequence in the BIOS and even though the CD/DVD
drive
| is at the top of the list there is no plus (+) sign next to it. If I boot
to
| the C:\ from the diskettes I cannot change to the CD\DVD using any drive
| letter attempt.
|
| Possible Cause/Solution????
|
|
 
R

rrose selavy

You didn't mention the hive.

It's system32/config/software

So that narrows it down to
If the software hive, it may be possible to rename the software hive found
in; %windir%\system32\config\software
to software.old
then copy the most recent backup found in
%windir%\repair\regback
as
%windir%\system32\config\software

You use the phrase "...MAY be possible..."
Is there a chance that if I do this renaming I might not be able to boot the
system properly at all?
Are there any other potential pitfalls that could possible occur with this
renaming method?

Thanks so much for the detailed response!!
 
R

rrose selavy

%windir%\system32\config\system


In this folder there is a SOFTWARE.SAV dated 6 months ago.
You can also try using the most recent backup found in
%windir%\repair\regback

There is no REGBACK in this folder.
 
D

Dave Patrick

I was under the impression that the operating system already doesn't start.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
<snip>
| You use the phrase "...MAY be possible..."
| Is there a chance that if I do this renaming I might not be able to boot
the
| system properly at all?
| Are there any other potential pitfalls that could possible occur with this
| renaming method?
|
| Thanks so much for the detailed response!!
<snip>
 
D

Dave Patrick

This means you have never created a backup.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
<snip>
| There is no REGBACK in this folder.
<snip>
 
R

rrose selavy

I was under the impression that the operating system already doesn't
start.

As originally posted ... the OS will eventually start but it always shows
this Registry File Failure first and it always shows it at least twice ...
usually three times before the OS will finally start and then the machine
will operate OK - and all software seems to run fine - until the next
restart when the pattern repeats.
 
R

rrose selavy

This means you have never created a backup.

This is not an automated process, apparantly - yes?

In %windir%\system32\config\software - there is a SOFTWARE.SAV dated 6
months ago. Is that possibly a valid hive file (if that's the proper term)?
 
D

Dave Patrick

Please post the exact text of the error message.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"rrose selavy"wrote:
| As originally posted ... the OS will eventually start but it always shows
| this Registry File Failure first and it always shows it at least twice ...
| usually three times before the OS will finally start and then the machine
| will operate OK - and all software seems to run fine - until the next
| restart when the pattern repeats.
|
|
|
 
D

Dave Patrick

:
|> This means you have never created a backup.
|
| This is not an automated process, apparantly - yes?
* You can run Programs|Accessories|System Tools|Backup, then choose ERD,
then if you check the box for "Also backup....", then the reg will also be
backed up to
%windir%\repair\RegBack
leaving the
%windir%\repair\
directory files intact as original installation. (which you'll want to do
immediately)


| In %windir%\system32\config\software - there is a SOFTWARE.SAV dated 6
| months ago. Is that possibly a valid hive file (if that's the proper
term)?
* These are copies of the hive files as they looked at the end of the
text-mode stage in Setup. Setup has two stages: text mode and graphics mode.
The hive is copied to a .sav file after the text-mode stage of setup to
protect it from errors that might occur if the graphics-mode stage of setup
fails. If setup fails during the graphics-mode stage, only the graphics-mode
stage is repeated when the computer is restarted; the .sav file is used to
restore the hive data. So in other words the software.sav is worthless as a
backup.

If the OS sometimes starts then it really sounds like hardware failure.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect
 
R

rrose selavy

If the OS sometimes starts then it really sounds like hardware failure.

So far the OS always starts but it always shows no less than two ... usually
three ... and very occasionally four of these Registry File Failures -
System32/config/software ... (this is perhaps not EXACT, but close): "the
file cannot be read or written to"

Hardware failure - such as the Hard drive? I recently ran a Disk Check
utility provided by the manufacturer of the drive and it "passed" all tests.
Maybe a fault with the computers Hard Disk Controller?

Thanks for all your kind assistance.
 
D

Dave Patrick

The next time it happens if you can write it down may help.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
<snip>
(this is perhaps not EXACT, but close):
<snip>
 
R

rrose selavy

The next time it happens if you can write it down may help.


STOP: C0000218 | Registry File Failure | The registry cannont load hive |
system32/config/software | the log or alt is corrupt, absent or not
writable.

What I find curious (but then I don't have a very deep understanding of this
at all) is that if the file is corrupt, absent or not writable why does the
OS ever load? Or does the software config not effect the OS load itself? If
that is the case, then shouldn't there be problems with some (or all
software) with such a failure? But everything appears to operate fine once
the system is up a running.
 
D

Dave Patrick

:
| STOP: C0000218 | Registry File Failure | The registry cannont load hive |
| system32/config/software | the log or alt is corrupt, absent or not
| writable.
|
| What I find curious (but then I don't have a very deep understanding of
this
| at all) is that if the file is corrupt, absent or not writable why does
the
| OS ever load?
* Good point and this is the reason I suggested hardware failure. I just
found this article which seems to backup that thought process.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];104203


Or does the software config not effect the OS load itself? If
| that is the case, then shouldn't there be problems with some (or all
| software) with such a failure? But everything appears to operate fine once
| the system is up a running.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect
 
D

Dave Patrick

Doesn't really make any difference.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| The article referes to SCSI drive and controller.
|
| Device Manager shows an IDE ATA?ATAPT controller - 82371AB/EB DCI bus
| Master IDE controller.
|
|
 
R

rrose selavy

Doesn't really make any difference.

OK. Thanks again for you help. I'll check with the computer manufacturer
about a potential controller problem.
 

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