Registry fouled up, computer not functioning - do I need to reinstall Windows?

[wchang99]

My cousin's computer recently stopped being able to open most files, incl. some, though not all .exe files. It's been giving the following error message on startup for a while (though not on every occassion I believe): "Windows encountered an error in the system registry. Please close your programs and restart windows now. You may lose some of the information from the current session. Restarting will allow the registry to reinitialize."

Installing AOL recently seemed to make things go downhill faster; she had been getting the registry error message for some time before she'd noticed these really adverse effects. We've since uninstalled AOL but with the same problem still. And Netscape is now missing a .dll for some reason and can't run, probably only after installing AOL - I think it was an OLE file.

There's no backup of the registry on the hard drive that I know of.

Right now the computer's practically useless. Do we need to reinstall windows? And if so, what does that entail exactly? Does the hard drive get completely wiped off?

The thing is, the Windows setup disk won't install itself - it's giving an error message that the control panel settings have changed since startup and to restart, then run Windows install again..We're running the Windows setup immediately after bootup though, and we don't know how to get around this.

She has Norton Antivirus but it won't run..

Do we need to take it to CompUSA for $50 an hour so that they may do something that takes 10 minutes and no thinking to do, or is it something we can fix?

Thanks a lot for any suggestions...

John Backhaus

[ENVY]

WhaT version of windows? 98 has a reg restore,But I would reccommend a format and reinstall.It also might be a good idea to check your ram(Compusa usually will do this for free).Also scandisk the drive(thorough)for bad sectors.And if you have a current virus utility scan for those critters.

[jeana]

Nooo!!! Ixnay on the CompUSA!!

Now, first of all,
what version of Windows do you have?
What type of installation disk do you have: is it the one that comes with a new computer or is it an upgrader?
At what point does the computer give trouble? Does Windows start up, at least?


If I were in your situation, I would first try the following: use RegClean or ScanReg on your Windows registry. Depending on the version of Windows you have, I think you might already have the program file regcln.exe or scanreg.exe (or some similar name) in your Windows folder. If you can't find it, you can look at www.knowplace.org/registry.html (http://www.knowplace.org/registry.html) and download a version of RegClean from the link there.

If this doesn't help, I would then reinstall Windows. There may be better ways to do it than the following, which is the roundabout way that I've hit on by myself after countless hours of pain and suffering. It's also very likely that detailed instructions on reinstalling Windows have been posted at one time or another in this forum, so you should do a search.

Overall, I would erase the Windows directory, and possibly the registry file
(system.dat; you'd have to remove the hidden, system, and/or read-only attributes that would prevent you from erasing it). HOWEVER!!! DON'T DO THIS YET!!!

First, you ought to have a boot diskette that will allow you to boot into DOS.
If you are installing Windows from a CD-ROM, you MUST be sure that you are able to use the CD-ROM when in DOS. If you don't know how to get this to happen, you should come back to this forum and ask how to write your Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files so that you can use your CD-ROM without Windows.

If you can use your CD-ROM from DOS, then you can just boot into DOS with your floppy,
go to the drive letter of your CD-ROM, and type "setup" to start off your reinstallation of Windows, without worrying about any weird changes that occur after Windows starts up.

Works for me... other folks, take a look to see I haven't forgotten anything!

Also, note that you will have to reinstall all of your applications, including antivirus programs, after reinstalling the OS this way.

[This message has been edited by jeana (edited 08-20-99).]

[Susan]

Sounds like the registry is corrupt...

The first thing you can do is go into WIN safe mode and uninstall both AOL and Norton, rebooting each time and see if that helps. If it still leave's you with problems you can reinstall WIN from DOS:

If it is WIN 95, make sure that your cousin has a recent bootable floppy with the config.sys and autoexec.bat files on it to enable the CD ROM drive to work. If it's WIN98, use the WIN98 boot disk and run computer with CD ROM support.

You can then go into C:\windows and rename the system.ini and win.ini files to something with a new extensions (like your initials)

CD\ to the CD drive and run SETUP from there.
When setup is complete, all the programs and files will be intact, though some of the drivers may need to be reinstalled.

[Susan]

Sorry, jeanna...SysOpt was having some problems and your post wasn't there when I posted.??

[CMonster]

I just quickly glanced over all the information in this thread so forgive me if I am posting something redundant:

I saw a lot of talk about the OS and software, but most of the time when I see this "...Windows has encountered some promlem with the registry..." it turns out to be hardware that is the root cause of the problem.

Of course you have to repair/reinstall your software, but don't put water into a seive just yet; solve the root problem first.

Are all the internal connections firm and secure? How about the CPU settings - are they correct? Next try checking the memory timing and hard drive PIO mode.

Good luck on this, and I would recommend that you back up all important data, and use the Window's "ERU" utility to create an emergency restore disk, that is once you get the system up and stable.

[Pseo15]

its likely that someone has hacked into your computer through AOL (AOL not the most secure server). Anyways, if you really want to fix your computer 100%. i suggest u format and partion the harddrive. You can do this with these steps:
1. insert 3.5 floppy
2. find file fdisk.exe
3. find file format.com
4. transfer both of those files to floppy
4. then reboot(keep disk in)
5. then type fdisk
6. then choose your options there pretty logical
7. then run fomat by typing format C /S or C: /S
8. im not too sure on the format part, but its close to one of those. BTW the /S makes the C: drive bootable.

OK thats about it. everything on your computer will be deleted, and you will first need to install windows, then your drivers, like modem, video card, etc... then install all your other programs like starcraft, quake 2, tribes, AOL, all of those other microsoft programs. and your computer will be refreshened.

[Roy]

My 2 cents ~ reformatting is a last resort ~ too much to lose.

I can't count the times I've sat through the reinstall of W98. It usually takes care of things. I agree with Susan that the AOL should be removed. Maybe the Norton AV.

[Glytzhkof]

Roy, I really share your view. People do WAY TOO MUCH reformatting. Most of the time it is a complete waste of time, and you spend weeks after reinstallation just restoring all those nitty-gritty settings. Also: if a computer is needed for work, don't install any games on it. In my view games are the real system killers.

Maybe this could start a new thread altogether? I'm aware that there are some "die-hard reformat advocates" out there /forum/smile.gif.

[wchang99]

Sorry about not posting a little more info about my cousin's machine in question...It's
Win95, and it's an Acer AcerNote Light 370p laptop with 32 megs ram.

Windows has been booting up sucessfully, although with the error message about the
registry, and with the problem of not being able to open most files. Since it's been
starting up sucessfully, it's been backing up the registry each time so that the registry
backup is the same as the one it's currently using - i.e. the one with the problems, so
that there's no real backup to fall back on. I ran Regclean, and it found no problems, or
rather it ran, first checking for problems and then fixing them w/o telling what they were,
after which the same problems opening up files in Windows were still there...So I'm not
sure if doing things with the registry will work for fixing things. I also ran HWDIAG.exe,
and it gave a completely blank window, even with View->All devices checked...I didn't
really know what to make of that. Scandisk, on the thorough test mode, didn't find any
problems. Norton AV does seem to be running an overall check during startup before
Windows starts, and finding no viruses, even though it won't run from within Windows.

If I reinstall Windows, how do I set the CD ROM to be accessible from DOS? In safe
mode for that matter, it's not accessible either, though I was able to copy the entire
Windows CD into a folder on drive C. Can I install Windows from there, or will it get
screwed up if it's not working from the expected directory path?

Will I need to reinstall drivers afterwards if I reinstall Windows from safe mode? This
could be a little bit of a hassle because all of the OEM setup disks and drivers are in a
moving truck somewhere in the states right now, though I was able to find most of the
drivers on the Acer website.

Another newbie question...Is a boot disk just a disk with the system files on it, chosen
when you format it, or do you need something else?

I'd like to say thanks for all the help - I posted to two discussion boards, and the huge
outpouring of support's got me floored =)...One person even went ahead and e-mailed
me Regclean.exe. You guys are real cool! /forum/wink.gif

Thanks again - John Backhaus

[awwall]

Have had success restoring registry by looking for one of the following:

Under Windows directory look for all occurances of system.da?. Boot to dos from startup by hitting F8 key while booting. Select COMMAND PROMPT ONLY, this will put you into DOS mode. Change to windows directory and enter: ATTRIB SYSTEM.DA? this should list all occurances of the System.dat file. I have on many occassion found several of them, ie., SYSTEM.DA0,SYSTEM.DA1, etc. I don't know where they come from, assumed to be backups made by windows. Look at the dates on those you find. If one exists before you started haveing the problem, try the following:

type in ATTRIB -s -h -r SYSTEM.DAT

This will unhide your registry. Copy this file to some other directory to save it.

type in ATTRIB -s -h -r SYSTEM.DA? (replace question mark with file you want to use)

Delete SYSTEM.DAT
Ren SYSTEM.DA? SYSTEM.DAT (this will make your old file the new registry)

type in ATTRIB +s +r +h SYSTEM.DAT (to rehide registry)

Reboot system.


This may not work on all systems, but I have used it many,many times to fix a corrupted registry.

Anything is worth trying before you re-format, I to think this should be a last ditch repair.

aw

[awwall]

Have had success restoring registry by looking for one of the following:

Under Windows directory look for all occurances of system.da?. Boot to dos from startup by hitting F8 key while booting. Select COMMAND PROMPT ONLY, this will put you into DOS mode. Change to windows directory and enter: ATTRIB SYSTEM.DA? this should list all occurances of the System.dat file. I have on many occassion found several of them, ie., SYSTEM.DA0,SYSTEM.DA1, etc. I don't know where they come from, assumed to be backups made by windows. Look at the dates on those you find. If one exists before you started haveing the problem, try the following:

type in ATTRIB -s -h -r SYSTEM.DAT

This will unhide your registry. Copy this file to some other directory to save it.

type in ATTRIB -s -h -r SYSTEM.DA? (replace question mark with file you want to use)

Delete SYSTEM.DAT
Ren SYSTEM.DA? SYSTEM.DAT (this will make your old file the new registry)

type in ATTRIB +s +r +h SYSTEM.DAT (to rehide registry)

Reboot system.


This may not work on all systems, but I have used it many,many times to fix a corrupted registry.

Anything is worth trying before you re-format, I to think this should be a last ditch repair.

aw

[Rookie]

I hesitate to add this to an already long thread, but most of the people offering help do not have aol. All of the restore registry stuff is cool & I added it to my favorites folders, but when this happened to me this is what MS had me do.
First off the exact error msg I had was a call to an undefined datalink. I'm not sure if the registry going into a loop is like is caused by this but here goes: Ms had me ren (rename in dos) aolndi.dll
they had me renamne it aolndi.old
windows loaded just fine.
end ms help- they could care less if aol wouldnt work any more after that.
attempt reinstall aol- no dice.
boot back into dos- ren aolndi.old to>
aolndi.dll
windows loads just fine & aol reinstalls just fine,
I hope the *call to an undefined data link* is similar to the registry going into a loop like described...if not I'm really curious as to how to fix this without a dump & start over approach. I had a trojan that did that to me after I started hunting it down in the registry for manual removal. Hope that helped a little.
Rookie

[Rookie]

I hesitate to add this to an already long thread, but most of the people offering help do not have aol. All of the restore registry stuff is cool & I added it to my favorites folders, but when this happened to me this is what MS had me do.
First off the exact error msg I had was a call to an undefined datalink. I'm not sure if the registry going into a loop is like is caused by this but here goes: Ms had me ren (rename in dos) aolndi.dll
they had me renamne it aolndi.old
windows loaded just fine.
end ms help- they could care less if aol wouldnt work any more after that.
attempt reinstall aol- no dice.
boot back into dos- ren aolndi.old to>
aolndi.dll
windows loads just fine & aol reinstalls just fine,
I hope the *call to an undefined data link* is similar to the registry going into a loop like described...if not I'm really curious as to how to fix this without a dump & start over approach. I had a trojan that did that to me after I started hunting it down in the registry for manual removal. Hope that helped a little.
Rookie

[Rookie]

Sorry about that- seems my last 3 posts are in duplicate? I hit send reply and get an error msg- I think my post didnt go through and hit send again...they both show up?
I read the new owners of this list let the guy who started it get a bigger hdd...maybe this is growing pains? if its my fault I'd like to know...
Sorry
Rookie

[IRED]

Rookie thats what edit is for"that little thingy with the pencil at the top of your post".

[jeana]

Now, a lot has been said on this topic, but I'll just try to answer some of wchang99's latest questions:


(1)what do you need on your boot disk? (a)You'll need the system files, as given as an option when you format the disk. [if you can't get Windows to make one for you, you can do this from DOS by putting a formatted disk in drive A and typing SYS A:
This also can be done at the same time as formatting the disk by typing something like FORMAT A: /S but I always forget the exact syntax and command option. Another recent discussion in this thread also suggests www.bootdisk.com (http://www.bootdisk.com) for those who screwed up hopelessly and don't have friends with the same version OS]
(b) You'll also need copies of the config.sys and autoexec.bat files from your root directory in the c: drive. If you need your CD-ROM to work from DOS, you'll need to put in appropriate lines that will load your CD-ROM drivers. I'll try to help you below but input from other users will be welcome.
(c) You also need the drivers for your CDROM and a copy of the file MSCDEX.EXE which is somewhere in your Windows directory.
(d) I've found it is handy to have something like a simple text-editing file, a copy of FDISK, and some other basic commands from the Windows/command directory on my boot disk; but they're not strictly necessary for your purposes.

(2)Do you need to reinstall drivers?
If reinstalling from safe mode, probably not.
The only problem is that I think that regular reinstalls don't replace your corrupt registry... I seem to recall having done reinstalls that solved nothing until I got rid of the registry file.

Actually, for my "scorched earth" method of reinstalling, you needn't ERASE your original Windows drive and DAT files: just rename them if your disk drive is large enough.

Something that might work is if you just rename your registry file and back up your Windows directory to another directory, and then try the installation from DOS. Provided you don't have one of those "for distribution only with a new PC" I think you can do the reinstall over the old Windows and it just may keep your old drivers intact. If not, you're no worse off than before because you can erase the new Windows directory and restore your backup. But you MUST have a boot disk handy in order to do this.

(3)Will installing Windows from your hard drive work? It very well might! I never did this in the bad old days when I had a tiny hard drive, but I'm almost sure it will work. The install program shouldn't insist on any one particular drive. You'll still need a basic boot disk (no config.sys or autoexec.bat) to try this out.

(4) Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files that allow CDROM from DOS: I don't know what your CDROM driver is called, but on my old computer, my soundblaster CDROM driver was called SBIDE.SYS

On my boot disk I had SBIDE.SYS, MSCDEX.EXE, and an autoexec.bat file with the statement
a:\mscdex.exe /d:mscd001 /m:8 /v

and config.sys with the statement:
device=a:\sbide.sys /d:mscd001 /p:1e8,11 /v

But these statements would need to be adjusted for your particular driver; for instance, the sbide.sys driver required that I play a little with the /p parameter, which had the form
/p:base address used by the IDE interface, IRQ

The base address could have been 1F0, 170, 1E8, or 168; and the IRQ could have been 10, 11, 12, 14, or 15; because the primary IDE port probably has address 1F0,14; secondary has address 170,15; tertiary has 1E8,11 or 12; and quaternary has address 168,10 or 11.
So being too lazy to check which port my CDROM was attached to, I tried them all until I found one that worked.

(5) The restore registry suggested by awwall may not work since as you say, all of the registry backups are the same file.

(6) Reformatting is probably too extreme, but it's true that reinstalling Windows may not prevent the problem from happening again. It will at least give you a fresh start, where you can pick and choose what applications to reinstall, and figure out where things go wrong. I used to get a lot of registry problems after installing and uninstalling applications; rather than kill myself troubleshooting, I would just "launder" Windows with a fresh install.

(7) Good luck and tell us how it turned out.

[jeana]

[duplicate]

[This message has been edited by jeana (edited 08-22-99).]

[jeana]

[duplicate post]

[This message has been edited by jeana (edited 08-22-99).]