Editing the registry

[Guest]

hello,

I am using Windows XP Home, and I recently edited my registry, after having
backed it up. i edited at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\NtmsSvc\Parameters, changing
the value in "ShutdownTimeout" to a quantity, smaller than the default value.
I was thinking this area of the registry, referred to the amount of time that
elapses before the computer shuts down, after selecting 'shut down' from the
start menu shut down menu. Well, after changing the value and later
restarting my computer, the computer now only goes as far as trying to load
my settings. Then, the harddrive powers down, and the computer restarts back
to bios post. This process repeats endlessly. I tried, going to the advanced
menu (F8) and selecting the different safe mode options, as well as running
XP setup in repair mode. But then, even after setup completes, the harddrive
still powers down and restarts the computer. I am unable to get to the
desktop to utilize windows restore, or to even try to import my .REG file of
the area that i edited. ive tried all i know, and now i'm stuck. Is there
some way to repair the registry at this point? I'd appreciate any help. I
would really rather not reinstall windows. I'm pasting a text version of the
contents of my exported REG file below.


Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\NtmsSvc\Parameters]
"ServiceDll"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,\
00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,\
6e,00,74,00,6d,00,73,00,73,00,76,00,63,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00
"ShutdownTimeout"=dword:00007530

Thanks,
John

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi John,

If you can boot into "Safe Mode with Command Prompt" and execute the
following:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

Select the Last Known Good Configuration feature, on the Windows
Advanced Options menu.

 

[Guest]

hello bert,

well, if you notice in my original message, it says that i had tried all the
safe mode options, and that none of them helped. but i tried again as you
suggested, and still, nothing new is happening. i tried every option on the
advanced menu, and none of them allow me to either restore my computer or
merge the REG file i created. the rstrui.exe program requires windows, and
cant be ran in dos. --when the computer logs me on and tries to load my
settings, the computer still powers down the harddrive and restarts.

is there some file in the computer that has all registry data saved to it,
like a DAT file or something, that i can edit or something to somehow 'merge'
the data from my REG file. please help.

thanks,
john

Hi John,

If you can boot into "Safe Mode with Command Prompt" and execute the
following:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

Select the Last Known Good Configuration feature, on the Windows
Advanced Options menu.

--
Regards,
Bert Kinney [MS-MVP DTS]
http://dts-l.org/

hello,

I am using Windows XP Home, and I recently edited my
registry, after having backed it up. i edited at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\NtmsSvc\Parameters,
changing the value in "ShutdownTimeout" to a quantity,
smaller than the default value. I was thinking this area
of the registry, referred to the amount of time that
elapses before the computer shuts down, after selecting
'shut down' from the start menu shut down menu. Well,
after changing the value and later restarting my
computer, the computer now only goes as far as trying to
load my settings. Then, the harddrive powers down, and
the computer restarts back to bios post. This process
repeats endlessly. I tried, going to the advanced menu
(F8) and selecting the different safe mode options, as
well as running XP setup in repair mode. But then, even
after setup completes, the harddrive still powers down
and restarts the computer. I am unable to get to the
desktop to utilize windows restore, or to even try to
import my .REG file of the area that i edited. ive tried
all i know, and now i'm stuck. Is there some way to
repair the registry at this point? I'd appreciate any
help. I would really rather not reinstall windows. I'm
pasting a text version of the contents of my exported REG
file below.


Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\NtmsSvc\Parameters]
"ServiceDll"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,\

00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,\

6e,00,74,00,6d,00,73,00,73,00,76,00,63,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00
"ShutdownTimeout"=dword:00007530

Thanks,
John

 

[Malke]

hello bert,

well, if you notice in my original message, it says that i had tried
all the safe mode options, and that none of them helped. but i tried
again as you suggested, and still, nothing new is happening. i tried
every option on the advanced menu, and none of them allow me to either
restore my computer or merge the REG file i created. the rstrui.exe
program requires windows, and cant be ran in dos. --when the computer
logs me on and tries to load my settings, the computer still powers
down the harddrive and restarts.

is there some file in the computer that has all registry data saved to
it, like a DAT file or something, that i can edit or something to
somehow 'merge' the data from my REG file. please help.

At this point, the only option I can see is to boot with something like
Bart's PE (which you would have to make) or ERD Commander (which you
can download on an emergency basis from Winternals) and do the repairs
to the registry from there. If this is beyond you, take the machine to
a good local computer repair shop (not a BestBuy or CompUSA) who has
that kind of software and have them fix it for you.

Malke

 

[Guest]

hello,

well i went to winternals, to try to download erd commander, and i didnt
find any download link, and it also looks like i have to purchase it first. i
cant afford to buy anything right now. if i have to buy it first, then i cant
use it. aside from taking it to repair, isnt there some other way to import a
reg file in DOS or something? i can do most repairs myself anyway.

thanks

 

[Guest]

what is a barts pe disk and how do i make one

 

[Malke]

what is a barts pe disk and how do i make one

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

Malke

 

[Guest]

will this program work fine in dos without a cd writer?

 

[Malke]

will this program work fine in dos without a cd writer?

John, you're kidding, right? Go to Bart's PE website and read all about
it. It's very clear what it will do and what you need to build one.
You're the one who said you are used to fixing your own stuff. My
advice - and I'm not saying this to hurt your feelings - is that the
best course of action for you is to take the machine to a good local
computer repair shop and have a pro fix it for you. Otherwise, clean
install Windows (since IIRC you said a Repair Install didn't work for
you).

Good luck,

Malke

 

[Guest]

yes, i realize its easy, but the heart of the matter is that to reinstall, i
need to backup some files, and at this moment, i dont know how much space
they take up and between floppies and external drives, if i have the media to
do it. i have a iomega micromini usb drive, but i cant get the computer to
recognise it in dos.

thanks

 

[Malke]

yes, i realize its easy, but the heart of the matter is that to
reinstall, i need to backup some files, and at this moment, i dont
know how much space they take up and between floppies and external
drives, if i have the media to do it. i have a iomega micromini usb
drive, but i cant get the computer to recognise it in dos.

thanks

Take the hard drive out and slave it in another machine. There are two
ways of doing this:

1. Slave the drive (watch your jumpering) in a machine with a working XP
installation on another drive. Copy the files off the slave drive using
Explorer. Burn to cd-r. Return slave drive to original machine, format
and clean install Windows.

2. If you don't have an extra pc running XP or if you do and that
machine won't boot with the slave drive in it (sometimes happens), then
if the original machine has two cd drives, one of which is a burner,
boot with Knoppix. Knoppix is a Linux distro that runs from cd. If the
files are intact, Knoppix will see them and you can burn them to cd-r
using the k3b program. You can get Knoppix at www.knoppix.net. You will
need to do that on a machine with a fast Internet connection, a cd
burner, and third-party burning software to create the bootable cd from
the .iso. Or if the original machine does have the two drives, slave
the hard drive in a computer that does.

Malke

 

[Guest]

hey,

i think what ill do is just install a second xp installation on the same
drive, use the built in roxio writing software in the second xp, copy the
files i need and then reinstall again with one xp

thanks for your input

 

[Malke]

hey,

i think what ill do is just install a second xp installation on the
same drive, use the built in roxio writing software in the second xp,
copy the files i need and then reinstall again with one xp

thanks for your input

Sounds like a plan.

Good luck,

Malke