Corrupt registry - can it be fixed?

[Guest]

In a previous post I mentioned a problem with a USB device error. The
manufacturer tells me the problem is that the registry is corrupt. Are there
any programs or tools (preferably free, but more importantly, effective) that
can be used to fix it? There are no system restore points that exist before
the problem, whatever it was, occurred. I have not personally done anything
to the registry, and I have scanned with several free and commercial products
for viruses, worms, etc, and all come up negative.
This is XP Home SP2.

 

[Jim]

In a previous post I mentioned a problem with a USB device error. The
manufacturer tells me the problem is that the registry is corrupt. Are
there
any programs or tools (preferably free, but more importantly, effective)
that
can be used to fix it? There are no system restore points that exist
before
the problem, whatever it was, occurred. I have not personally done
anything
to the registry, and I have scanned with several free and commercial
products
for viruses, worms, etc, and all come up negative.
This is XP Home SP2.

Refer to the article in Help & Support"

"How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from
starting"

That isn't quite your problem, but it still might be helpful.

The method described in the article may not fix this problem if your system
has an OEM version of XP.

Another method is to restore the backup of system state.
A BartPE disk could do this operation.

Another method is to create a BartPE disk and work on the registry in your
system disk. However, from your question, you personally may lack the
skills and knowledge for such a task.

So, you are left with reinstall.

Jim

 

[Leonard Grey]

Hi Bruce:

If the only thing that you were told is that you have 'a corrupt
registry, that answer is - pardon me - bullsh**. Someone who knows what
they're talking about will tell you which registry keys are corrupt and
how to fix them.

Registry problems - if they really exist - are addressed by editing
registry keys. That means you need to know which keys need editing and
how they should be edited. Someone who's really on the ball will offer
you a .reg file that will do the job with one click.

There is no such thing as a tool that can fix a corrupt registry,
because there is no standard definition of what that means. 'Corrupt' is
an adjective, not a technical term.

If it's really true that one or more registry keys have problems, and if
you don't know which keys are at fault or how to fix them, your next
best hope is to restore the entire registry from a recent, known good
backup. Otherwise, there ain't a thing you can do. Can't fix something
when you don't know what's wrong.

I suggest you find someone who really knows what they're talking about
and get specific advice.

 

[Jim]

Hi Bruce:

If the only thing that you were told is that you have 'a corrupt registry,
that answer is - pardon me - bullsh**. Someone who knows what they're
talking about will tell you which registry keys are corrupt and how to fix
them.

Registry problems - if they really exist - are addressed by editing
registry keys. That means you need to know which keys need editing and how
they should be edited. Someone who's really on the ball will offer you a
.reg file that will do the job with one click.

There is no such thing as a tool that can fix a corrupt registry, because
there is no standard definition of what that means. 'Corrupt' is an
adjective, not a technical term.

If it's really true that one or more registry keys have problems, and if
you don't know which keys are at fault or how to fix them, your next best
hope is to restore the entire registry from a recent, known good backup.
Otherwise, there ain't a thing you can do. Can't fix something when you
don't know what's wrong.

I suggest you find someone who really knows what they're talking about and
get specific advice.

Which is what I would have said if I had only thought about your particular
problem a bit longer...

If in fact the registry is corrupt, Windows would have told you as much (and
most likely would refuse to boot), and it would have told you which hive is
corrupt.

Jim

 

[Guest]

Thank You for your replies.

BartPE is probably not workable here as this is an OEM XP.

Hi Bruce:

If the only thing that you were told is that you have 'a corrupt
registry, that answer is - pardon me - bullsh**. Someone who knows what
they're talking about will tell you which registry keys are corrupt and
how to fix them.

That is what I suspected. If the registry were hosed, the system would fail
to boot. I think support people sometimes just say "reload windows" and shine
it on. I was hoping that maybe someone had dealt with this by manually
editing the registry and could offer advice. Or is there info somewhere on
the net as to how to do this; at this point, I have little to lose by trying.

 

[Guest]

Thank You for your replies.

BartPE is probably not workable here as this is an OEM XP.



That is what I suspected. If the registry were hosed, the system would fail
to boot. I think support people sometimes just say "reload windows" and shine
it on. I was hoping that maybe someone had dealt with this by manually
editing the registry and could offer advice. Or is there info somewhere on
the net as to how to do this; at this point, I have little to lose by trying.

Hi Bruse,
Adding to the Good advice you received try this:
Explanation of error codes generated by Device Manager in Microsoft Windows
XP Professional
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310123

MS::<Quote>
Solution button: Check Registry

This code means that the registry returned an unknown result.

To resolve this issue, follow the recommended solution, which will run
Scanreg.exe.
If this does not resolve the issue, type "scanreg /restore" (without
quotation marks) from a command prompt.
Finally, remove the device from Device Manager, and then redetect it using
the Add New Hardware tool in Control Panel.
MS::</Quote>

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...ct=298548&dlc=tr&printable=no&encodeUrl=true&

You can no longer access the CD drive or the DVD drive, or you receive an
error message after you remove a CD recording program or a DVD recording
program in Windows XP: "error code 31"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060/EN-US/
A computer that is running Windows XP cannot detect a USB thumb drive, an
Apple iPod, or an external hard disk drive
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925196
Also Scan for malwares and Run this command:
Open a run command and type in:
sfc /scannow click [OK]
If the above links didn't help try to uninstall the Scanner and get the
latest driver for it from the Manufacture for your scanner specs and Run the
System File Checker then Try to install the Software for the scanner and the
scanner when prompted by the wizard.
HTH.
nass
===
www.nasstec.co.uk

 

[Jim]

Thank You for your replies.

BartPE is probably not workable here as this is an OEM XP.

Err no. The regedit in the BartPE disk can edit any kind of hive wherever
it might be located. The OEM folks make quite a few customizations of the
registry, and this might make understanding the registry a bit difficult.

But, you can definitely edt the registry on your system with BartPE. You
must import a hive from your hard disk, edit it, then export it back.
And,it goes without saying, you really need to know what the contents of the
values are supposed to be. There lies the problem with BartPE as well as
any other editor.

Careful people keep a systemstate backup handy for problems like this.

Fortunately, you won't be able to export a hive back to the BartPE disk.

Also, it is very unlikely that something is wrong in the registry anyway.
Jim

 

[Guest]

Thanks to all for the replies and advice.
I have tried most of the suggestions from the MS KBbase, without luck.
In desperation, I did a system state restore from a couple of months ago.
It fixed the device in question, but broke most everything else (Zen,
joystick, etc.)
I should have known...

 

[Leonard Grey]

Hi again Bruce:

It's not surprising that your restore broke so many things if you
restored to a system state from "a couple of months ago." Your system
has undergone considerable change in that time - which is completely
normal - and by suddenly plunging part of your system two months back
into history you can almost expect problems.

Restoring to a point that old is fine if you rarely use your computer.
But if you use it almost every day you're sending yourself into the
Twilight Zone by combining old and new.

Sorry I can't offer you a fix, but once you get it all sorted out you
really want to learn about backing up and particularly about disk
imaging as a way of backing up. You'll save yourself a lot of grief.

And in future, if tech support offers you a solution that sounds like a
load of c**p - it probably is. ;-)