unable to delete registry keys

[Guest]

I've run into a problem where Regedit will not allow me to delete some
registry keys. The keys are corrupted and cause the XP SP2 install to fail.
I'm not sure how these keys were corrupted, but whenever I try to delete,
open, repair, or rename these keys, Regedit displays an error message similar
to the following: "The Registry Editor cannot delete <key name>. Error while
deleting key."

All of the keys I'm trying to delete/repair are in HKCR. Some examples are
HKCR\.ASR, HKCR\.AudioCD, HKCR\.PSP

I've also tried to overwrite the keys by importing a .REG file that contains
entries for the keys I looking to delete. The import fails.

I've run Registry Cleaners (like RegistryFix) and I've run the Microsoft
Registry Repair Utility. These attempts failed as well.

I've scanned for viruses and worms using Norton Antivirus 2005. That didn't
resolve the issue.

Does anyone have any other suggestions that I might try? Thanks in advance
for any help you can give.

Joe in CT

 

[Ramesh [MVP]]

Hi Joe,

It's most likely a permissions issue. Try deleting the registry keys that you want to remove, from Administrator login. Take a complete registry backup using ERUNT, for safety.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org


I've run into a problem where Regedit will not allow me to delete some
registry keys. The keys are corrupted and cause the XP SP2 install to fail.
I'm not sure how these keys were corrupted, but whenever I try to delete,
open, repair, or rename these keys, Regedit displays an error message similar
to the following: "The Registry Editor cannot delete <key name>. Error while
deleting key."

All of the keys I'm trying to delete/repair are in HKCR. Some examples are
HKCR\.ASR, HKCR\.AudioCD, HKCR\.PSP

I've also tried to overwrite the keys by importing a .REG file that contains
entries for the keys I looking to delete. The import fails.

I've run Registry Cleaners (like RegistryFix) and I've run the Microsoft
Registry Repair Utility. These attempts failed as well.

I've scanned for viruses and worms using Norton Antivirus 2005. That didn't
resolve the issue.

Does anyone have any other suggestions that I might try? Thanks in advance
for any help you can give.

Joe in CT

 

[Guest]

Ramesh,

Thanks for your reply. I should have stated in my original note that the
errors occur while logged with an account in the administrators group. I
will try again, this time using the Administrator account.

If that fails, do you have any other suggestions?

 

[Guest]

A quick follow up... The errors occur when logged on with the Administrator
account. I cannot open, rename, delete, or otherwise modify these registry
keys...

 

[johnf]

I've found regularly when deleting an entry, that further through the search
the exact same entry comes up, but in a Root further down the chain.
Apparently, once you delete the original, it often appears further down & is
somehow linked to the first one already deleted (same name etc.), so cannot
be deleted twice.
Is this the problem you're having?

 

[Ramesh [MVP]]

Joe,

Verify the permissions / Take full control of the key(s)

Microsoft Windows XP - Assign permissions to a registry key:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...xp/all/proddocs/en-us/regedit_permit_key.mspx

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org


A quick follow up... The errors occur when logged on with the Administrator
account. I cannot open, rename, delete, or otherwise modify these registry
keys...

 

[Guest]

Ramesh,

The permissions for the keys is non-existent. This is part of the problem,
and Windows/regEdit will not allow me to modify the key(s) in any way,
including change the permissions. It is almost as if the keys are partially
deleted, and the part that is remaining has Windows/RegEdit confused.

 

[Guest]

John,

This is not the problem I'm having. My problem seems to boil down to a
corrupt registry, where a few keys are in some partially deleted state. The
consequence of being in this state is that I cannot re-create, modify or
finish deleting these keys. This has also resulted in the SP2 installation
failing.

 

[Guest]

Joe,

Just to let you know that I'm experiencing the same problem, but with a key
related to ATI Multimedia Software. During an 'uninstall', it left behind a
registry key in HKEY LOCAL, which I'm unable to delete. Now, after a
re-install, the program doesn't recognize itself as being installed and so
won't run. (i.e. "It doesn't look like ATI Multimedia is installed. You may
need to re-install")

I called the ATI Help Desk. Their only suggestion was to set permission on
the key to 'full control'. As I had already done that, the last suggestion
from ATI was to re-install XP.

I was hoping to find an answer in this message board, but to no avail so
far. I did try booting up in Safe mode with command prompt and used the reg
command prompt. It also didn't work. Maybe it'll work for you.

Essentially,
1. export the key that you want to delete to a file (e.g. temp.reg)
2. edit the key using Notepad by deleting all subkeys and values and editing
the primary key by placing a dash following the "[" character. In my case
it's
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ATI Technologies]
The dash causes the whole key to be deleted.
3. In Safe Mode with Command Prompt, go to the directory containing your
temp.reg file to be imported and do REG IMPORT temp.reg

In my case, I'm resigned to having to re-install XP as the response to me is
"Access Denied".

Good luck.