Windows 2000 Continuous Reboot -- Registry Issue?

[Don]

Back on 27 Oct I posted a problem with a Win2000 machine that continuously
rebooted. Dave Patrick made several suggestions on possible solutions (see
below). Unfortunately, none of the solutions solved the rebooting problem.

This leads me to believe the problem might be similar to that described in
MSDN Knowledage Base article Q258098. However, it calls for modifying the
registery. But if you can't boot Windows, how can you edit the registery.
(It just dawned on me, maybe booting in 'Safe Mode' might work. Is that an
option?)

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Don




If the security hive is corrupt, it may be possible to rename the security
hive found in
%windir%\system32\config\security
to security.old
then try copying the most recent backup found in
%windir%\repair\regback
to
%windir%\system32\config\
If that fails you haven't much choice but to copy/ use the
original-as-installed security hive from
%windir%\repair\security
to
%windir%\system32\config\security

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks. At
the "Welcome to Setup" screen. Press F10 or R to repair a Windows 2000
installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The Recovery
Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do not have
the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted
or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,
and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,
you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard
disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer: drive
root, %systemroot% or %windir%

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Dave Patrick]

Perform the edits from a parallel install.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;266465

Run regedt32, then from the Local Machine Hive, choose Registry|Load Hive.
Then navigate to the location of the hive you want to edit/read. Give it
some tempname (doesn't matter what). Then when your done, move the cursor
back to tempname, then Registry|Unload Hive, Registry|Exit

You'll find them in
%systemroot%\system32\config

the current_user hive is in
%userprofile%\ntuser.dat

The last reg backup files in
%systemroot%\repair\RegBack

and the original as-installed files in
%systemroot%\repair

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Don]

Thanks Dave!

Don

Perform the edits from a parallel install.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;266465

Run regedt32, then from the Local Machine Hive, choose Registry|Load Hive.
Then navigate to the location of the hive you want to edit/read. Give it
some tempname (doesn't matter what). Then when your done, move the cursor
back to tempname, then Registry|Unload Hive, Registry|Exit

You'll find them in
%systemroot%\system32\config

the current_user hive is in
%userprofile%\ntuser.dat

The last reg backup files in
%systemroot%\repair\RegBack

and the original as-installed files in
%systemroot%\repair

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

Back on 27 Oct I posted a problem with a Win2000 machine that
continuously rebooted. Dave Patrick made several suggestions on possible
solutions (see below). Unfortunately, none of the solutions solved the
rebooting problem.

This leads me to believe the problem might be similar to that described
in MSDN Knowledage Base article Q258098. However, it calls for modifying
the registery. But if you can't boot Windows, how can you edit the
registery. (It just dawned on me, maybe booting in 'Safe Mode' might
work. Is that an option?)

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Don

 

[Don]

Dave,

Your guidance in my original post got me to the point where I could see the
error codes:


STOP C0000218
{Registry file failure}
The registry cannot load the hive file:
\SYSTEMROOT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE
or its log or alternative
It is corrupt, absent, or not writeable

Unfortunately, the machine did not have a backup copy in
%systemroot%\repair\RegBack, so I had to use the default. Based on a post
of yours from some time back I found using Google, sounds like the thing is
pretty well hosed and the best thing to do at this point is recovery data,
wipe clean, and rebuild. (No magic SOFTWARE registry restorers?! ) Oh
well!

Thanks for all the guidance! I learned a lot on this adventure!

Don

Perform the edits from a parallel install.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;266465

Run regedt32, then from the Local Machine Hive, choose Registry|Load Hive.
Then navigate to the location of the hive you want to edit/read. Give it
some tempname (doesn't matter what). Then when your done, move the cursor
back to tempname, then Registry|Unload Hive, Registry|Exit

You'll find them in
%systemroot%\system32\config

the current_user hive is in
%userprofile%\ntuser.dat

The last reg backup files in
%systemroot%\repair\RegBack

and the original as-installed files in
%systemroot%\repair

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

Back on 27 Oct I posted a problem with a Win2000 machine that continuously
rebooted. Dave Patrick made several suggestions on possible solutions
(see below). Unfortunately, none of the solutions solved the rebooting
problem.

This leads me to believe the problem might be similar to that described in
MSDN Knowledage Base article Q258098. However, it calls for modifying the
registery. But if you can't boot Windows, how can you edit the registery.
(It just dawned on me, maybe booting in 'Safe Mode' might work. Is that
an option?)

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Don

 

[Dave Patrick]

Yes, not much you can do. Try to keep recent backups with your new install.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Don]

Dave,

Will do!

Thanks again for all the help!!

Don


PS More of an academic question: Is the format of a registry file
documented anywhere?

Yes, not much you can do. Try to keep recent backups with your new install.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

Dave,

Your guidance in my original post got me to the point where I could see
the
error codes:


STOP C0000218
{Registry file failure}
The registry cannot load the hive file:
\SYSTEMROOT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE
or its log or alternative
It is corrupt, absent, or not writeable

Unfortunately, the machine did not have a backup copy in
%systemroot%\repair\RegBack, so I had to use the default. Based on a post
of yours from some time back I found using Google, sounds like the thing
is
pretty well hosed and the best thing to do at this point is recovery data,
wipe clean, and rebuild. (No magic SOFTWARE registry restorers?! )
Oh
well!

Thanks for all the guidance! I learned a lot on this adventure!

Don

 

[Dave Patrick]

These ones may help.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];256986
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/en/server/help/sag_ntregconcepts_mply.htm

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Don]

Thanks Dave!

Don

These ones may help.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];256986
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/en/server/help/sag_ntregconcepts_mply.htm

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

Dave,

Will do!

Thanks again for all the help!!

Don


PS More of an academic question: Is the format of a registry file
documented anywhere?

 

[Dave Patrick]

You're welcome.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Guest]

Hi Don,
Backup software hive located at c:\winnt\system32\config\software first.
Copy this registry to a Windows xp box at say c:\. Open regedit. Select hklm
and then click on file->load hive. Browse to the software hive you copied
from the Windows 2000 server. Name it test. Once it is loaded properly,
Select test and then click on file->unload hive. Now, copy this file back to
the Windows 2000 server at c:\winnt\system32\config and try to boot up.
Windows xp and Windows 2003 registry editor has the capability to rectify
registry corruption. If the registry corruption in the software hive is
minor, then, it should get resolved.

Lukesh

Dave,

Your guidance in my original post got me to the point where I could see the
error codes:


STOP C0000218
{Registry file failure}
The registry cannot load the hive file:
\SYSTEMROOT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE
or its log or alternative
It is corrupt, absent, or not writeable

Unfortunately, the machine did not have a backup copy in
%systemroot%\repair\RegBack, so I had to use the default. Based on a post
of yours from some time back I found using Google, sounds like the thing is
pretty well hosed and the best thing to do at this point is recovery data,
wipe clean, and rebuild. (No magic SOFTWARE registry restorers?! ) Oh
well!

Thanks for all the guidance! I learned a lot on this adventure!

Don

Perform the edits from a parallel install.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;266465

Run regedt32, then from the Local Machine Hive, choose Registry|Load Hive.
Then navigate to the location of the hive you want to edit/read. Give it
some tempname (doesn't matter what). Then when your done, move the cursor
back to tempname, then Registry|Unload Hive, Registry|Exit

You'll find them in
%systemroot%\system32\config

the current_user hive is in
%userprofile%\ntuser.dat

The last reg backup files in
%systemroot%\repair\RegBack

and the original as-installed files in
%systemroot%\repair

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

Back on 27 Oct I posted a problem with a Win2000 machine that continuously
rebooted. Dave Patrick made several suggestions on possible solutions
(see below). Unfortunately, none of the solutions solved the rebooting
problem.

This leads me to believe the problem might be similar to that described in
MSDN Knowledage Base article Q258098. However, it calls for modifying the
registery. But if you can't boot Windows, how can you edit the registery.
(It just dawned on me, maybe booting in 'Safe Mode' might work. Is that
an option?)

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Don