Note
From Africabiz Editorial Team: This article
by guest author Abeel Zymal is a must read for anyone
who has a computer. As we all know, the Registry is the brain of Windows
operating systems, which controls how the computer behaves.
Install and uninstall of applications and even official updates by
Microsoft may corrupt the Registry and wreak havoc on your system
impeding the load of the Operating System.
Therefore knowing how to troubleshoot and "force" Windows
to load would save you time and headaches.
Africabiz
recommends that you read this paper carefully, print it and keep the
copy in safe place to consult and apply if necessity arises. It
is advised to also make a copy of Article 309531 available in Microsoft
Knowledge Base - Click
here to see the reason why
You'll want to use the steps on this page to recover from a corrupted registry when you have already tried other options such as System Restore and you receive a message similar to one of the following when you try to boot your computer with Windows XP.
- Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
WINDOWSSYSTEM32CONFIGSYSTEM
- Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
WINDOWSSYSTEM32CONFIGSOFTWARE
- Stop: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive (file):
SystemRootSystem32ConfigSOFTWARE or its log or alternate
- System error: Lsass.exe
When trying to update a password the return status indicates that the value provided as the current password is not correct.
- Be careful using this procedure in other circumstances or with an OEM version
of Windows XP since OEM installations create passwords and user accounts that
did not exist previously and may cause you not to be able to log into the Recovery
Console to restore files.
- Booting into the Recovery Console
You'll need to use the Windows XP Recovery Console to fix a corrupted registry, this will either require you to boot from a Windows XP Installation CD or boot directly to the Recovery Console if its installed.
Follow these steps to boot into the Recovery Console from a Windows XP
Installation CD:
1) Place your Windows
XP in the CD-ROM Drive
2) Restart your computer and make sure your BIOS is set to boot from CD
3) When you see the following command press the space bar.
"press any key to boot from cd..."
4) Wait until you see the "Welcome to Setup" screen, and press R to start the
Recovery Console
5) Choose which Windows installation you wish to load (this is usually #1 unless
you have a multi-boot system)
6) Type the administrator password and Press Enter
7) You should now be at the C:Windows> prompt
Copy Repair Files Using the Recovery Console
This procedure assumes Windows is installed on Drive C, if you have installed Windows on another drive, please substitute the appropriate drive letter in the procedure below.
At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:
Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your
computer will restart, press F8 as it starts and choose Safe Mode.
Restart in Safe Mode and Find a Recent Snapshot Backup
Restart your computer in Safe Mode by pressing F8 during the initial bootup
and choosing Safe Mode. Once in Safe Mode, you need to make sure the files
and folders are visible so you can access them. Follow these instructions to
accomplish this:
1. Open My Computer
2. Click on the Tools menu, then click Folder Options.
3. Click the View tab.
4. Under Hidden files and folders, click to select Show hidden files and folders,
and then click to clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)
check box.
5. Click Yes when the dialog box that confirms that you want to display these
files appears.
In My Computer, Double-click the drive where you installed Windows XP (usually
Drive C) to display a list of the folders. then double-click on the "System Volume Information" folder.
This folder contains the system restore points stored on your computer. The
folders will look similar to
_restore{EE42BEB8-700A-495F-8004-53D26C2E12C5}
You might receive
an access denied error message similar to the following when trying to access
the System Volume Information folder: C:System Volume Information is not accessible. Access
is denied.
This is generally caused because the user you are logged in under does not have permissions set on the folder. To fix this, follow the instructions in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base article 309531 to gain access and continue. Each version of Windows XP is different on how to change these permissions.
Once you have access to the snapshots, use the instructions below to copy one
of the latest snapshots to the WindowsTMP directory so you have access to it:
1) In the System
Volume Information Folder, click on View, and then click Details to
display the date of each snapshot folder.
2) Double-click on a folder that was not created at the current time but rather
before the problem started.
3) Double-click on the Snapshot subfolder
4) Using your normal windows copy and paste techniques, highlight the following
files and copy them into the C:WindowsTMP folder
5) Rename the files that you just copied into the C:WindowsTMP folder by right-clicking
on each filename and choosing Rename, then typing the new name. Repeat this for
each file in the list below.
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
6) Once you have renamed the files, restart your computer
again with the Recovery Console (refer to the instructions above to do this)
Replace the Repair Files with a Current Backup of the Registry
After rebooting the computer and starting the Recovery Console again, type
the following commands at the prompt to replace the files with a current backup.
You'll need to press Enter after each command:
del c:windowssystem32configsam
del c:windowssystem32configsecurity
del c:windowssystem32configsoftware
del c:windowssystem32configdefault
del c:windowssystem32configsystem
After
the files have been replaced, type EXIT at the command prompt
to restart Windows in normal mode.
Use System Restore to Return to a Good Backup Point
Because there is more to a System Restore than just the registry files, follow
these steps to restore your computer to a good backup point:
1. Click Start,
and then click All Programs.
2. Click Accessories, and then click System Tools.
3. Click System Restore, and then click Restore to a previous Restore Point and
finish the restore
This is a very useful site
where doubtless you would be spending a lot of time to peruse through the endless
business links and leads. Particularly on the
link
to the International Trade section that has articles, forms, advice and
tips about international trade.
This is a
UK government Web site, however, the information posted are useful for the international
businessman or businesswoman Click here
to spend some time perusing Practical advice For Business
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-
Africabiz
recommends that you read this paper carefully, print it and keep the
copy in safe place to consult and apply if necessity arises. 