How to delete Registry

[Beth]

Hi,
I am having quite a few problems on my system and would
like to do a clean reinstall of Win2k without losing any
of my data. Therefore, I would like to delete the
registry and reinstall Windows 2k, then reinstall my
software. (I have tried just reinstalling Win2k, but this
has not solved my problems - hence the need to delete the
registry.)

I have done this before in Win98 by deleting the
files "User.dat" and "System.dat", but cannot find similar
files on my current system, other than NTuser.dat (which
I'm assuming is the same as "user.dat" on previous
versions of windows. Is this correct? And can someone
tell me what file resembling the "system.dat" that I need
to delete to accomplish my objective?

Thank you.

 

[Venkat Srinivasan.R]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Hi Beth,

If u r keen in deleting the registry . Reinstallation should do.
However what u can do is that, back up ur data , then format ur harddrive
and then do a
clean install. There are utilities that can do a low level formatting .

If u let us know what problem u r facing it will be easy for us to trouble
shoot the prb , rather than
going for a Reinstallation . The reason being the prb can be in ur hardware
then even if u do a low level
format and reinstall the prb will recurr .

Regards,
Venkat.

 

[Beth]

The problem I am facing is that I installed a trial
version of a program called "Netlimiter" which is supposed
to assist in managing bandwidth levels between programs
and even between multiple machines using the same internet
connection.

The program did not work well for me (as a matter of fact,
I would give it a VERY negative review if asked - i.e.
DON'T USE IT!!!!) and I uninstalled it. Unfortunately,
the uninstall did not remove everything from the registry
and it is still controlling the bandwidth for one program,
WinMX, that I use regularly.

I have to date tried the following to no avail:
uninstalling Netlimiter; running "reghealer" which is a
registry cleaning tool; uninstalling then reinstalling
WinMX; manually going through the registry and my HD
removing any trace I could find of Netlimiter;
reinstalling my OS (Win2k); again uninstalling and
reinstalling WinMX; reinstalling Netlimiter and removing
any settings I could find related to WinMX (Netlimiter
does not provide a "do not control this program" feature)
and then uninstalling Netlimiter again; running my
reghealer again and again manually deleting entries
related to Netlimiter from my computer; reinstalling my OS
again; uninstalling and reinstalling the software for my
DSL modem and Network hub; going back through the registry
manually just in case I missed something; and finally
searching through the 'net in hopes someone might be able
to help me get RID of this thing!!

I do NOT want to wipe my drive as I have over 50 gigs
worth of data I do not want to lose and although my system
is a good and relatively new one (2 gig proc, 512 memory,
etc.) I only have an old 4x CDR/RW burner and it would
take WEEKS to back up all my data. (some is backed up,
but not everything).

I would like to somehow do a clean install without losing
my data. I have all the program installation CDs and
backups of all my drivers, so that is not an issue. If
not for the data I don't want to lose, I would have wiped
my drive by now, I'm so frustrated!!!

I've been fiddling with this for a week now, and am at my
wits end! I appreciate ANY help anyone can give me!

I have emailed the program's software support, but don't
expect much help. Their website doesn't even contain a
FAQ page, let alone detailed info about the program.

Thank you in advance for any assistance!

 

[Ben-Zion Joselson]

Have you tried Microsoft's Windows Installer CleanUp
Utility?
Read the description in [Unwrap URL long line!]:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-
us;290301

and note that it is a very strong cleaner that requires
System State/Registry backup before use.
It is intended to remove installer files and entries after
a failed installation (or removal) of applications, or
when your computer's registry becomes corrupted.

In Symantec article "Obtaining the Microsoft Windows
Installer CleanUp Utility" [Unwrap URL long line!]:

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/20
01091412490807

they even recommend to reinstall the Microsoft Installer
after using the CleanUp Utility, and link to a full step-
by-step explanation.

As you seem to be ready for much more drastic steps, to
delete the registry and reinstall Windows 2k, perhaps this
utility may be of use before going so far.