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Geek Culture / Fixing the XP registry without an installation CD?

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Izzy545
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Posted: 21st Apr 2009 00:18
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Hi,

My friends computer bluescreens every time it tries to boot up, whether through safe mode or otherwise, and it looks like she has a registry issue that's causing it.

She doesn't have the install CD, and everyone I know has Vista, is there any way to do a registry repair without getting our hands on a copy of an XP install CD?

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Fallout
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Posted: 21st Apr 2009 10:22
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Get one of the many registry cleaning programs available online. Do a bit of googling. Normally they require you to buy the software after a trial period, but the trial should be long enough to get it sorted.


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Kohaku
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Posted: 21st Apr 2009 17:40
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What makes you think it's the registry?

Have you tried removing all of the hardware (printer, scanner etc)? Had she installed any new hardware/software or updated any drivers before the problem appeared?

I once had a problem like this and had to remove the internal CD drive to get it working.



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Izzy545
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Posted: 21st Apr 2009 19:25
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I think it's the registry because the error code that windows is throwing out when it blue screens directly references the registry, and after googling the error code, it looks like the registry needs to be repaired to solve the problem.

Thanks!

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David R
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Posted: 21st Apr 2009 19:41 Edited at: 21st Apr 2009 19:44
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What is the text error code it gives on the BSODs exactly? (The capital letter text)

EDIT: If you're getting REGISTRY_ERROR (0x51) it's most likely your hard drive / IO devices, and not the registry itself. (Or a security refresh is occurring, and the machine is running out of available memory + virtual memory)


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Izzy545
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Posted: 21st Apr 2009 20:56
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It's this error that I get when trying to boot the computer.

STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file) :
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE

or it's log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not writeable.

One of two things are wrong according to Microsoft, either the registry is simply corrupt, or the hard disk Windows is installed on is damaged.

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David R
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Posted: 21st Apr 2009 22:55 Edited at: 21st Apr 2009 22:57
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I would err on the side of assuming hard drive failure rather than registry corruption, based on the fact it isn't consistent and doesn't fail every time. (If the registry were corrupt, it would fail every time, whereas hard drive failure/errors could cause random corruption that is only detected every 1 in [n] attempts). It's also just a good idea to get rid of the most serious possible cause before the least serious.

Get a SMART tool or disk verifier and check your drive's health


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