Repeated BSOD Crash when searching registry

[+Bob+]

I discovered a problem in my XP-Home registry that I am having trouble
fixing.

Here's the scenario: Start regedit. Do a search for a key by name.
When it gets to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key, something from that point
forward crashes (blue screen) Windows.

I have tried searching starting at the "bottom up" and I was able to
search the HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG and down/forward. I stepped back to the
HKEY_USERS key and searched from there forward and that was fine. But,
when I step back to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or above it crashes. What I
search for is unimportant - just doing a find-next crashes the
machine. Sometimes I can get in one search, but as it advances toward
the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key, it's BSOD time.

My gut tells me that there is something wrong in whatever file(s)
supplies that registry key. I did a system restore and went back about
4 days and it did not help. I followed that with a defrag (since I
needed it) and since I figured the defrag would run the
scandisk/chkdsk and make sure there were no disk errors (bad
assumption on the disk check) ?

Ideas on what to try next?

Thanks,

 

[+Bob+]

Do you have problems using regedt32?

Same program starts if I run regedit or regedit32 on XP-Home.

 

[Ron Martell]

I discovered a problem in my XP-Home registry that I am having trouble
fixing.

Here's the scenario: Start regedit. Do a search for a key by name.
When it gets to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key, something from that point
forward crashes (blue screen) Windows.

I have tried searching starting at the "bottom up" and I was able to
search the HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG and down/forward. I stepped back to the
HKEY_USERS key and searched from there forward and that was fine. But,
when I step back to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or above it crashes. What I
search for is unimportant - just doing a find-next crashes the
machine. Sometimes I can get in one search, but as it advances toward
the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key, it's BSOD time.

My gut tells me that there is something wrong in whatever file(s)
supplies that registry key. I did a system restore and went back about
4 days and it did not help. I followed that with a defrag (since I
needed it) and since I figured the defrag would run the
scandisk/chkdsk and make sure there were no disk errors (bad
assumption on the disk check) ?

Ideas on what to try next?

Thanks,

1. What is the content of the BSOD? If it is a STOP error then we
need the STOP code, all 4 parameters, and any file or module names
mentioned.

2. Check for a possible malware infestation by doing a free online
scan at one of the following sites:
Bit Defender http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html
Trend Micro http://housecall.trendmicro.com
Kaspersky Online Scanner http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
Panda ActiveScan http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan
WindowSecurity.com TrojanScan http://windowssecurity.com/trojanscan
Webroot http://www.webroot.com/

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Guest]

I am having a similar problem with Regedit. I get a BSOD when I try to
export it. I have the stop code and parameters.

0x00000050 (0xE4850000,ox00000000,0x8056B9ac,0x00000001)

I have several more. The only value that changes is the first parameter. I
have a memory dump. I suspect a bad key/value. I have tried several
registry cleaners. One also gives me a BSOD, but some don't and report
errors. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you, Vince Radice

 

[Guest]

I found the bad key. Do you know how long it takes to go thru the registry
one key at a time? Anyway, here is the problem - if I highlight the key in
REGEDIT, I immediately get a BSOD. How can I delete this without
highlighting it with REGEDIT?

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

How can I delete this without
highlighting it with REGEDIT?

Have you tried doing it in safe mode?

 

[Guest]

I fixed it. I had tried Safe mode with the same result. Having found the
key - it was under a Visual Studio key - I exported all of the other keys in
that subgroup, deleted the subgroup, and imported all of the exported keys.
I then brought up Visual Studio and it recreated the key which is now good.
I have exported the registry now. Lots of work and BSODs later, I wish that
I could have found the key easier.

 

[Rock]

I found the bad key. Do you know how long it takes to go thru the registry
one key at a time? Anyway, here is the problem - if I highlight the key
in
REGEDIT, I immediately get a BSOD. How can I delete this without
highlighting it with REGEDIT?

Edit the registry remotely (from another system). Slave the drive in
another XP computer and edit it. For info on this see:
http://www.dougknox.com/
Win XP Tips
Advanced Registry Editing

Another option is to create a bootable Bart PE disk, boot from that and edit
the registry.
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/