Assistance with WinXP Pro registry errors Please (Long, sry)

[CreePinG_DeatH]

Hello! I got home for semester break when my parents told me that the computer was just restarting infinitely. I took a look and was just receive a BSOD with a registry error. I searched MSKB and found THIS ARTICLE to start. These are the steps I have taken in order and any results I may have had:

1. Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.
lick to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do so.
2. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
3. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.
4. When you are prompted to do so, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.
5. At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:
md tmp
copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\software c:\windows\tmp\software.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\security c:\windows\tmp\security.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\default c:\windows\tmp\default.bak

**Problem**I couldn't copy the default file so I renamed it to defaultold and then copied it to c:\windows\tmp\

I then:
delete c:\windows\system32\config\system
delete c:\windows\system32\config\software
delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam
delete c:\windows\system32\config\security
I did NOT delete default for right now so I skipped that step, then I:

copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default and overwrote any default that was in that folder.

I then booted into windows and it booted, and I could see all of my files, but it asked for activation and I just ignored it (the OS was already activated legally anyway.) I then set the necessary file permission in the MSKB article and went to view the system volume information folder. I was denied access so I followed THIS KB Article, but my only difference was that I had to right-click on the folder, go to properties, then security, and added Administrator as a user with full rights. The only user at that time was SYSTEM, but I didn't touch those permissions for whatever reason. With the administrator changes, I was able to view and move the registry files. so I:

Copy the following files to the C:\Windows\Tmp folder:
• _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT
• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM
and then
• Rename _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT to DEFAULT
• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY to SECURITY
• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE to SOFTWARE
• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM to SYSTEM
• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM to SAM

I rebooted into the recovery console and:
del c:\windows\system32\config\sam

del c:\windows\system32\config\security

del c:\windows\system32\config\software

del c:\windows\system32\config\default

del c:\windows\system32\config\system

copy c:\windows\tmp\software c:\windows\system32\config\software

copy c:\windows\tmp\system c:\windows\system32\config\system

copy c:\windows\tmp\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam

copy c:\windows\tmp\security c:\windows\system32\config\security

copy c:\windows\tmp\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

and rebooted again...

Now the Problem... I see the logon screen with my only user like from a month ago when the computer worked. I click on the user, but am told that I have to activate it in order to login. I click ok, and I receive a "memory can't be accessed" error and rturn ot the login screen. I then choose cancel and receive a "message terminated" error and return to the screen. I tried logging into safemode, but there I see an "administrator" character and my family login... the family was the administrator before...

Does anyone have any helpful ideas what to do? SHould I just have my parents buy another HDD and set it as slave to retrieve the data and reinstall windows? Thanks for any help, as always.

 

[Proletariat]

Safe mode allways show ups with an "Administrator" login followed by the normal mode login. They should both be admin accounts.

Click on your family login in safemode. If It lets you go into safe mode go to start>run>type "msconfig" and hit enter>launch system restore.

If system restore is enabled (it should be unless they turned it off) you should be able to select a restore point. See if there is one from back when the computer worked, if there is, select that and run it.

If it doesnt work I would just reformat and reinstall windows. In my experiance, its pretty futile to try and fix windows if system restore doesnt work (or you cant do something simple in safe mode to get it working.)

If you are gonna reinstall make sure the hard drive is not the problem. Go to seagate's website and download seatools and create a bootable cd with it. Boot from it and run a full diagnosic on your parents hard drive. If it fails, get a new HD, if its good back up the data and reformat/reinstall.

To back up data, the easiest way is to put the harddrive on another computer (either internally (ide/sata) or with a usb caddy) and save it to that computer. If you dont have another computer handy, you can buy another hard drive and get the data off after you install windows on it like you said, or you can use a bootable OS cd/usb drive that has some kind of cd burning software. I have used a windows PE bootable cd with nero to do this before.

If system restore, sfc /scannow, and/or deleteing drivers/updates/programs/ and startup processes/registry keys in safemode does not fix a problem, its best to just save yourself the trouble (and future trouble when it breaks again in a week or two) and do a fresh install.

I personally reinstall windows at the first sign of trouble on my own computer. Heck, I reinstall every few months if I need it or not. I dont even have system restore turned on. Its easy when you have a separate partition for windows and keep all your data on other partitions or hard drives. A fresh install is better than anything else IMO.

 

[CreePinG_DeatH]

Thank you for the response. When I go into safe mode, I receive the same error at the login screen that says I haveto activate windows in order to use safe mode... I didn't know if one of the registry files I have would have the activation information in it- meaning, I might might be able to just edit the file temporarily to get the restore point to work. Any hope of that possibility?

It does sound like a reformat is coming anyway, but if I can get this to work, it would be awesome. I was able to boot into windows during the OP's process before I moved the registry files... maybe I can just repeat this process and get it to work?

 

[Proletariat]

If its a legit copy of windows you should be able to activate it.

Hook it up to the internet and try to activate it. If it doesn't work, all you have to do is call MS (it should give you a number). Tell them you are upgrading or something (be sure to tell them that you only have it installed on one machine) and they should give you an activation code.

 

[CreePinG_DeatH]

It can't activate because it causes some other kind of error. It's not that the activation doesn't work, but the there is some kind of a software conflict. I'm just going to have to get another hdd and setup a slave drive to remove any data before formatting. I'll setup the OS on it's own partition this time.