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    Hello everybody,

    Due some unfortunate events it seems my Windows 7 registry is corrupt.

     I've tried repairing it using System Recovery Options / Startup Repair but with no luck. The Recovery software indentifies the problem (CorruptRegistry) but is unable to repair it. I've tried to copy the files from windows32/system/config/regback to windows32/system/config still no luck (the back-up files are the same with the corrupted ones, same date, time, size --> great job windows!). I've tried even to use System Recovery (i have several restore points) but i got this wired message: "You must enable system protection on this drive..." --> stupid error, if I haven't had enabled system protection how do I got the restore points...

     Does anyone know if is possible to "extract" the registry files from a file called winre.win that I found in the folder /Recovery? I understood that this is like a system recovery image...

    Or if someone knows another method, I really do not want to make a clean install unless is the last option available.

     

    Mihai

     

    Friday, February 26, 2010 11:28 PM

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    You can do In-place Upgrade to repair the system. Please launch your installation program in the system, and choose Upgrade. In general situations all programs and personal data will not be lost. However I still suggest you backup important data before upgrade.

    Arthur Xie - MSFT
    • Marked as answer by Arthur Xie Monday, March 8, 2010 2:48 AM
    Monday, March 1, 2010 9:04 AM

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    Sorry I can't help you after the fact, but I advise people to Export a copy of their registry when they install their system and also from time to time afterward.  The file can be huge (hundreds of megabytes), but it can be a lifesaver if you get a corrupted registry.

    -Noel
    Saturday, February 27, 2010 6:02 AM
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    You can do In-place Upgrade to repair the system. Please launch your installation program in the system, and choose Upgrade. In general situations all programs and personal data will not be lost. However I still suggest you backup important data before upgrade.

    Arthur Xie - MSFT
    • Marked as answer by Arthur Xie Monday, March 8, 2010 2:48 AM
    Monday, March 1, 2010 9:04 AM
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    Hello:

    I have the same concern. I hope a Microsoft Windows 7 guro will asnwer my concern.

    In Windows XP. If you make a System State backup, registry files are backed up to C:\windows\repair folder for later user. In addition, System Restore in Windows XP saves Registry files in System Volume Information directory. In many occasions, I was able to recover Windows XP by copying registry files from System Volume Information folder to over write the registry files in C:\Windows\System32\Config folder. I was able recover Windows XP from serious issues, including bad virus that normal windows interface unusable.

    But in Windows 7, I don't see that I can find any saved registry files in System Volume Information. Windows 7 allows you to boot from the Installation cd or recovery cd and restore from a previous system point. But it does not give me the flexibility of recover the System hive and/or the Software hive.

    I the corporate environment, it is hard to make regular backups for client computers. I rely on Windows XP's system restore so that I can recover the system by restoring the registry hive files from System Volume Information folder. What about Windows 7? I need to understand the recovery procedures so that when problem comes we can recover the systems.

    Thanks.

    Friday, March 26, 2010 2:50 PM
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    Hello Stphxu,

    Look in the \windows\system32\config\regback folder.

    There should be copies of the registry files stored inside that folder. 

    They are backed up periodically and stored in that folder.

     

    Thanks, Darrell Gorter This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights
    • Proposed as answer by Murray Bob Tuesday, April 22, 2014 4:50 PM
    Friday, March 26, 2010 5:44 PM
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    Hi Darrell. Can you tell me how often this occurs? I just checked and mine are dated 03/21/2010.

    Any idea what the algorithm is that controls this and if it's changeable, perhaps via registry? Just curious.
    Rich Why can't I be different and original like everybody else? - Vivian Stanshal
    Friday, March 26, 2010 9:02 PM
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    Hello Ztruker,

    I think it's around every ten days when the machine finds some idle time.

    There appears to be a way to disable it but I do think there is a way of controlling the time interval.

    To disable: Add a REG_DWORD value called "EnablePeriodicBackup" under
    HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Configuration Manager

    Thanks, Darrell Gorter This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights
    Friday, March 26, 2010 9:29 PM
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    Hi Steph,

    I'm only another user, but I've saved my (and the users I support at my company's) bacon a few dozen times by writing batch files which can be used from a command prompt started from a Repair Boot Disk. I boot in and copy the registry hives to a hard drive folder I created. Since it's a batch file it takes only 20 seconds to do the copying. Then later, if needed, I can use the boot disk again and run a comparable 'restore' bacth file to put back a registry from a week or a month earlier.

    I discovered from a mishap yesterday that restore points I had been creating were missing when I needed them. Which makes them worthless. The 'Last known good' option is similarly limited since the user has usually made 6 or 8 attempts to boot his damaged mess before he comes to me. A registry saved from one week ago, when you could see the machine was doing well, is a good alternative.

    Steve Robertson

     

     

    Monday, April 12, 2010 2:56 AM
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    You can do In-place Upgrade to repair the system. Please launch your installation program in the system, and choose Upgrade. In general situations all programs and personal data will not be lost. However I still suggest you backup important data before upgrade.

    Arthur Xie - MSFT


    This is not a solution. If the registry is corrupt YOU CANNOT BOOT INTO WINDOWS.


    You cannot start an in-place upgrade by booting off the CD, you cannot start it from the system reserved partition, you can only do this if your system is already working. You cannot solve any problems this way. Stop recommending it. Yes, this was a valid solution in XP, since you can perform a repair install after booting off the disc, but in Vista/7, the in-place upgrade option is completely and utterly useless for fixing any problems at all, since you need a 100% functional system to use it in the first place.


    I would really like to know how to get past the "you must enable system protection on this drive" error. I have dozens of restore points, and I'm sure each of which has a perfect copy of the registry, it's just in the dozen or so different times I've tried on different computers, I've absolutely never been able to get system restore to work. I've read this is because the drive letter is mapped differently in the recovery environment, or that the VSS service isn't running. In my case, the drive is mapped correctly as C:, but the Volume Shadow service isn't running, and can't be started.

    Every time any Win7 system eats its own registry, the copy in regback is the same size as the active hives. In most cases this is 256kb. I have 10gb of files in \System Volume Information\, which I'm sure contains many, many valid registry backups, but I have absolutely no way of accessing them. Is there any way of extracting the SYSTEM, SOFTWARE, SAM, etc hives out of these {eabd352d82-2582052f-30252902ab262} files?

    This has happened at least a dozen times in the shop I work at, and each time I've ripped my hair out in frustration, trying to find a copy of the registry to restore, then eventually I've given up, saved the data, and reinstalled from scratch. My customers aren't happy, because they have to pay a lot more for all the time I have to spend, and in the end, they lose all their programs and settings. I really wish system restore actually worked, or when it doesn't, I wish you could just find the registry hives backed up as regular files under \System Volume Info\, like it was in XP.

    Saturday, October 2, 2010 1:58 AM
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    question: When do you get that "you must enable system protection on this drive" error? as I understand it, the error appears whenever you try to use System Recovery, if that is so, what is (if there is) the original error message that made you think your registry is corrupt?
    CESabarre Free Tech Support
    Bad News: There really is no such thing as Free Tech Support.
    Good News: Oftentimes a simple thank you is the best form of payment!
    Sunday, October 3, 2010 12:05 PM
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    "what is (if there is) the original error message that made you think your registry is corrupt?"

    The computer will not start, it only goes into "repair my computer" mode. The repairs fail, giving the error CorruptRegistry. Booting off a CD, I noticed that C:\windows\system32\config\software is 256kb, so is the system hive, and so are all the copies in the regback directory. I didn't bother looking at them in a hex editor, but I know they're not valid registry hives, because when I try to load them into a copy of regedit on another PC, it says they're unreadable. I'd say that's a corrupt registry if you ask me.

    Anyways, I solved my problem. I found a program called Shadow Explorer, which can manually suck files out of vista/7's system restore. I took the drive out of the laptop, installed it in a desktop, ran shadowexplorer, found a 64MB copy of the SOFTWARE file, and a 15MB copy of the SYSTEM file, backed up by system restore the day before, restored them manually, and the laptop works perfectly fine now.

    I asked around the shop, and out of a dozen employees, no one here has ever, even once, had system restore work in windows 7. I'm sure if it functioned the way it was designed to, it would be very useful.

    Monday, October 4, 2010 5:16 PM
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    Hi,


    Same exeprience here. Windows 7 System Restore did not work the two times I needed it on two different computers. ("registry corruption" but Safe mode OK).

    The first time it apparently failed upon restoring a IE temp file. I couldn't believe it and still flabbergasted by the fact that there are just NO restoring options. I started a thread on that, but had no response.

    What saved me in those two occurence was a "F8" start and then "last known good configuration". So for sure there was a true "good configuration" somewhere and System Restore failed to find/restore.

     

    Tuesday, November 2, 2010 11:23 AM
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    It can sometimes be the simple things people don't try first, most times on a corrupt file it was not closed due to power down and sometimes will become seen as corrupt, so a simple chkdsk will fix it, not the version where the pc restarts but from console from a win7 disc or you can get to it through F8 in a less obvious route.

     

    I woudln't assume a file was corrupt untill I could be 100%, error messages can sometimes be misleading.

    As to your customers paying for extra time it takes you to work it out, shouldn't you charge them after you know the solution till the end time of fixing it?

    Otherwise they will be paying you for your guess work until you find a solution from someone else.

     

    Anyway this seems to be the first route to try.

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822705

    Wednesday, November 3, 2010 5:45 PM
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    #1
    Insert the Windows XP installation CD or DVD into the drive and reboot the machine. This boots to the Windows XP Repair Console screen. Press the "R" key to enter the console.

    #2

    Press the "1" key to repair the Windows XP installation. After you enter this option, enter the administrator password for the Windows machine. After it's been entered, you are given a DOS command prompt.

    #3

    Type "cd c:\windows\system32\config" into the command prompt. This moves the focus to the config directory, which holds the Windows registry files.

    #4

    Type the following commands into the DOS command prompt. Each one of these statements copy the original registry files to the current registry directory.
    copy C:\windows\repair\system system
    copy C:\windows\repair\software software
    copy C:\windows\repair\security security
    copy C:\windows\repair\sam sam
    copy C:\windows\repair\default default

    #5

    Press the "Y" key after each copied file. This confirms that you want to overwrite the existing registry files.

    #6

    Remove the Windows XP installation disc from the drive and reboot the machine. The registry is now restored with original settings.

    I think that will help you to fix the issue   for more info Fix Computer Registry Problems

    Tuesday, January 18, 2011 10:36 AM
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    what do you mean by inplace upgrade? can you give more details? Thanks 
    Sunday, February 6, 2011 11:28 PM
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    I know there is just too much information contained in this registry scan file for me to sort thru....  showing close to 1400 errors!  some are even in the HELP files... " Wow, alot of good the help files are now!! "  But this report I'm getting is coming from one of those free scanner, booster, speed 'em uppers that only tell you your screwed then ask for money...... wont mention any names....... OK its Uniblu    How good are these scans and how do I know for sure they are accurate and what to do if they are besides shelling out the money that doesnt exist ????

     

    mentaga5150

     

      

    gary b.
    Wednesday, February 23, 2011 6:02 AM
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    On Wed, 23 Feb 2011 06:02:16 +0000, mentaga5150 wrote:

    I know there is just too much information contained in this registry scan file for me to sort thru....  showing close to 1400 errors!  some are even in the HELP files... " Wow, alot of good the help files are now!! "  But this report I'm getting is coming from one of those free scanner, booster, speed 'em uppers that only tell you your screwed then ask for money...... wont mention any names....... OK its Uniblu    How good are these scans and how do I know for sure they are accurate and what to do if they are besides shelling out the money that doesnt exist ????

    All such programs are terrible, and should be avoided like the plague.

    Registry cleaning programs are all snake oil. Cleaning of the
    registry isn't needed and is dangerous. Leave the registry alone and
    don't use any registry cleaner. Despite what many people think, and
    what vendors of registry cleaning software try to convince you of,
    having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you.
    The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
    removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit
    it may have.
    Read http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000643.html

    and http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099

    and also
    http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2005/10/02/registry-junk-a-windows-fact-of-life.aspx

    Let me point out that neither I nor anyone else who warns against the
    use of registry cleaners has ever said that they always cause
    problems. If they always caused problems, they would disappear from
    the market almost immediately. Many people have used a registry
    cleaner and never had a problem with it.

    Rather, the problem with a registry cleaner is that it carries with it
    the substantial risk of having a problem. And since there is no
    benefit to using a registry cleaner, running that risk is a very bad
    bargain.

    Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP
    Wednesday, February 23, 2011 7:59 PM
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    Ken, Thanks for the heads up on those links, very insiteful..... With all that is going on in my system frustration dosn't even have a meaning any more. Im slowly getting some of the bugs out BUT , I have the HP advisor package with the windows 7 and Im still under warrenty .... 2 days ago auto updates were installed then after they were thru Intel System Identification Utility Tool comes on and starts after it was done , I was reading thru what was in its findings and my computer goes to blue screen and shuts down... So I start it back up and to be on the safe side I do it in Safe Mode with networking, figured I would Get HP to check everything out first.... well it wouldnt startup, HP Advisor that is, so I go to see why?? And now I dont seem to have any administrative privlidges..... I get some, but not all of that worked thru????? Kind of clueless ya know? After long non stop hours of messing with it I gave up! Well, today I decide to take another look..... When I log in my monthly report from Norton comes up and Im reading thru it and find out Norton is Blocking HP and other parts of windows itself...... Now, I trust in Norton.... But why would it be doing this, could it be from registry errors? Oh, I forgot to mention I did manage to get on with Microsoft tech support and a report was sent to them and the chat tech had me delete a BUNCH Of Crap and he had not even seen the report ..... So, now I'm stuck not knowing what to do or whats missing?? Tryed restore after the blue screen and it wouldnt do it got an error msg. But that was before the tech and what little changes I made to try and get my admin. priv's back and thats not even completly done yet...... What can I do????? HELP !!!!!!!!!  
    mentaga5150
    Sunday, February 27, 2011 12:16 AM
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    Leave the registry alone and don't use any registry cleaner.

    +100 to that!

    I have run Windows operating systems since Windows came out, on multiple systems.  I have managed divisions of engineers running Windows.  I don't need to reinstall my operating systems - ever.

    And I have never, ever run a registry cleaner.

    My current main Windows 7 workstation is as quick and nimble as ever, logs 0 errors or warnings, stays up 24/7 between scheduled reboots (e.g., for Windows updates), and does the TONS of multitasking work I ask it to without fault or complaint.

    What I do to keep my systems in good working order is:

    • Avoid installing things from the internet that I don't know and seek out on purpose.
    • Avoid allowing Internet Explorer to run ActiveX and active scripting except from sites I trust.
    • Avoid running eMail attachments.
    • Use a good antivirus / antimalware package in addition to Windows Defender.
    • Review the programs that are running or will run on bootup / login occasionally and make sure I know what every one is and why it's there.
    • Read up on what works and what doesn't (e.g., here).

    Being a career software/hardware engineer, you might say I am not in the norm, but even for a layperson managing a Windows system in a conscientious way does not take a lot of effort, does not require much sacrifice, and absolutely NEVER requires a "registry cleaning".  It just requires you to exercise the brain a little and do what makes good sense.

    -Noel

    Sunday, February 27, 2011 9:28 PM
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    HOT TIP

    Use ERP Commander and many of the problems are already solved.

    <cite>calmit.org/erd-commander-2010-vista-windows-7</cite>

    It works for me everytime.

     

    PBSOLUTION

    http://www.pbshelp.nl

    • Proposed as answer by PBSOLUTION Thursday, March 24, 2011 9:55 AM
    Thursday, March 24, 2011 9:53 AM
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    These instructions apply only to Windows 7


    1. Turn on your computer and press F1 or F2 to go into BIOS settings.  On "Booting" section set your computer to boot from your cd/dvd drive.  Insert the Windows 7 installation CD or DVD (either full or upgrade version) into the drive and save your new settings and exit BIOS mode.  When your computer starts again it will ask you to press any key to reboot from the disk.  You will be taken to the Windows 7 screen.  Once on this screen, you will be given the choice to install windows or to repair it.  Choose repair it.  If your problem is not solved try it again and this time when you choose "Repair" you should get some of the following choices: Repair Windows, Repair Using a Mirror copy previously made, Diagnose System hardware, or Display DOS command prompt or something similar.  


    2. Choose DOS command prompt.


    3. Once on the command prompt window, type c: and hit enter.


    4. Type the following commands into the DOS command prompt. Each one of these statements copy the original registry files to the current registry directory.


    copy C:\windows\system32\config\regback\system c:\windows\system32\config\system

    copy C:\windows\system32\config\regback\software c:\windows\system32\config\software

    copy C:\windows\system32\config\regback\security c:\windows\system32\config\security

    copy C:\windows\system32\config\regback\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam

    copy C:\windows\system32\config\regback\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

    5. Press the "Y" key after each copied file. This confirms that you want to overwrite the existing registry files.

    6. Remove the Windows 7 installation disc (either full or upgrade version) from the drive and reboot the machine.

    7. Press F1 or F2 right after restarting your machine to go back to the BIOS settings and set your machine to boot from the "C" drive.

    The registry is now restored with original settings.

    • Proposed as answer by joost47 Sunday, September 2, 2012 8:13 PM
    Tuesday, September 20, 2011 3:37 AM
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    Thank You Karls0913,

    I waisted a whole day trying to get Windows 7 to boot after a power outage killed it!

    Nothing I tried would work! After reading your post I booted from another partition and copied the files over on the dead partition and it was like magic!! ;)

    Although I got booted up, the registry is slightly different and I would like to know how to replace the registry file with the reg backup file I created 2 days ago.

    I just wish I could get my waisted day back.

    Thanx again for the tip.

    Monday, October 17, 2011 3:40 AM
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    Wow - Karls0913's solution worked for me as well (the others in this thread did not).  This is the third time I have had this corruption and I had re-installed Windows 7 the other 2 times.

    Why isn't system repair able to do this as well?

    Wednesday, November 23, 2011 10:37 PM
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    Inadvertently hosed my registry this morning, and ran into the same frustrations cited above. Karls0913's reply was the fix for my system! Many thanks!

    Saturday, November 26, 2011 6:45 PM
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    Why isn't system repair able to do this as well?

    Try running System Restore as a bootup option...

    Press F8 during the first part of your bootup, choose Repair Your Computer, and follow the prompts to run System Restore.  That has a MUCH greater chance of success than a System Restore run while Windows is running.

    -Noel

    Sunday, November 27, 2011 4:10 PM
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    You are a god, and I bow to your greatness! I can't begin to express the excitement at hearing the windows chime as my computer actually started after 3 hours of screwing around. Thank you!
    Friday, February 10, 2012 1:36 AM
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    Your method worked like a charm. I was using some registry cleaning program the other day and i accidentally deleted some important registry files required at the startup logon screen on windows 7 as i forgotten to uncheck them. Spent couple of days searching around for BSOD(Black Screen of Death) fixes but none worked well until i stumble upon this XD

    Thx a great lots. This is simply magic that allowed my PC to enter back into normal state. However i do believe this method also works on other Windows OS as well if you are able to find the registry file backup that's default to the OS. Anyways now im off to fixing whatever minor problems that may be caused by the previous registry cleaning.

    A note to all again: Do and pls backup your registry files and computer settings before doing any maintenance jobs on your PC! A single careless mistake will screw the whole thing up!
    Sunday, February 12, 2012 4:34 PM
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    Excellent. Not sure why this is not posted in the other forums. Spent about two days looking to repair a Win7 boot issue. This information worked like a charm. Of course I needed a ubuntu usb boot device to access the files. Nevertheless it worked.

    Thank you

    Neil

    Neil

    Friday, March 16, 2012 4:25 PM
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    when i try karls method it sais the system cannit find the path specified
    • Proposed as answer by Jonah00 Wednesday, October 17, 2012 3:42 AM
    Sunday, March 25, 2012 5:55 AM
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    Windows 7 recovery fails using recovery system partition, DVD Repair Disk, Windows 7 install update; because the root partition will not boot!

    Registry was corrupted by too old of a copy of Advance System Optimizer (ASO); never had an issue with CCleaner; that is kept up to date. Auto repair efforts would see a 0x000 000 f4 stop error; in the details it was listed as “Unknown Bugcheck, f4. Startup repair would simply get to a point of not seeing any error to repair and endless reboot and repeats.

    System Recovery options: Having given plenty of options and showing the available Restore files going back for weeks I got this error message. “You must always restore the drive that contains Windows. Restoring other drives is optional.” Using the System Recovery partition or a Repair DVD will not solve the bootup issue. Since the drive cannot bootup at any level… an upgrade install will not work either.

    In short: If you cannot make the drive boot in some fashion you can look at all the restore points that will fix the problem; and not be able to use any them…!

    I call that an Operating System bug of Windows 7….

    I feel lucky to find this post. The person with the similar problem had the same registry files as backup producing the same problem of no bootup; leaving the person with no real solution… except to rebuild. So I’m asking and will monitor this… is there a way to force a Restore file to be run? Will Microsoft issue a update to make that option available from the Recovery partition and Recovery DVD?

    Mihai29 gave me the info I needed to use the backup registry files. I copied the active files to a new directory using the Make Directory DOS command <md altbakup>, the copy commands I used were similar to sophiemartin and karls0913. I used the copy c:\… *.* rather than list the files each. After the alternate backup copy was made (so I could retract the changes if need be) I copied and replaced all the active registry files with the backups as the above people wrote of. I booted into safemode successfully, ran the restore point, and successfully recovered the system. It only worked because my own registry backup files predated the corrupted registry files. The paragraph before this one is still my interest. I want to be able to run a restore point when the drive cannot be made to boot and reloading everything is the only other solution. I did have the idea copying an older boot disk files (I have one for the same system) to attempt forcing  a safemode boot so that the restore file could still be run-I have no list of necessary files to do that with. Obviously it was a lot neater to do that with just the registry files. ASO is uninstalled…. As to Superbee383, only 3-hours; good name, superbee,,, does the name I use, jonah strike a contrast?

    • Proposed as answer by Jonah00 Wednesday, October 17, 2012 3:53 AM
    Wednesday, October 17, 2012 3:50 AM
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    Karls0913 (or anyone who knows).  I'm having problems with my registry after a virus hit me and would like to know the following.  When you repair the registry, does it delete, modify or destroy your other programs already installed?  ie Office, Photoshop, etc.   Thanks.
    Tuesday, October 23, 2012 1:56 AM
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    When you repair the registry, does it delete, modify or destroy your other programs already installed?  ie Office, Photoshop, etc.

    There is simply no way to answer that question.

    Suffice it to say that there are things in the registry without which various applications may not work right or at all. 

    If you have irretrievably lost data from your registry after malware problems - and some things simply can't be repaired - I'd honestly suggest wiping your entire system and reinstalling your OS and all your applications afresh.  Make sure you deactivate those applications you can (e.g., Photoshop) and expecially that you protect all your data.  DON'T RUSH THROUGH IT, but take the time to make sure you've thought about everything and have all your data protected.  Think ahead to how you're going to get through the points where you don't have a working system to rely on yet need to research things you didn't anticipate (e.g., have another computer or portable device handy).

    Also think about how it is you got an infection that caused you so much grief and consider changing your habits (and configuration) in the future to try to avoid putting yourself in the position where that could happen.

    Good luck.

     

    -Noel

    Detailed how-to in my eBooks:  

    Configure The Windows 7 "To Work" Options
    Configure The Windows 8 "To Work" Options
    Tuesday, October 23, 2012 2:11 AM
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    Thanks for the response.  My software is too important to just "wipe out".  I bought this computer specifically because of all of the software installed and I need these programs for school.

    FYI, I didn't get the infection, it was found on the computer a day or two after I purchased it.  I noticed things were not correct, like not being able to unhide files/folders (reverting back to hide all after show all radio button is clicked).  Also, I created a new standard acct that cannot be logged on with (logs off immediately after log on).  Only Admin privilege accts can be used.  Other than that, the computer works perfectly.  No delay on startup, no BSOD, no crazy errors, etc.  Works Perfectly.  That's why I want to be able to just fix those problems without wiping and reloading.   

    I've tried so many programs including Unhide.exe (which gives me an " appdata file cannot be found error"), virus removal(s) like Ad-Aware, Malwarebytes, TDSSKiller, Spybot, RogueKiller, Hijack this, Avast, Combo Fix, HitmanPro, ADwCleaner, SuperAntiSpyware, Sophos and more.  Whew!  I also had the hard drive stress tested via Dell and the manufacturer...all passed with flying colors. 

    Just searching for a solution that will work for me.  It's my 2nd computer, so I'm not pressed to destroy all of my software. 

    Thanks.

    Tuesday, October 23, 2012 3:53 AM
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    If anybody gets the "system cannot find the file specified" error in the command line while trying Karls0913's solution, make sure your Windows Installation is on the C:. Verify this by entering the recovery console, and before clicking on the Command Prompt, look at the top of the list. Mine said "displaying repair options for Windows 7 Installation (D:)". If this is the case for anyone else, just replace every instance of the c: listed in Karls0913's solution with the correct drive letter. That's what worked for me and it worked like a charm.
    Thursday, April 25, 2013 8:10 AM
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    This work really good. thanks Karl0913.
    Thursday, November 21, 2013 1:46 AM
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    Hi Darrell,

    I am experiencing the same problems as others in this thread. I'm stuck in a Startup Repair loop, the cause seemingly being a corrupt registry. I posted a question yesterday on another forum, only one response so far that doesn't answer the question (wish I'd found you first!)

    I followed the advice you gave to Stphux and located the registry backup file. What do I do to replace the corrupt registry file with the backup version? Is is simply a copy from/to? If so, can you spell it out for me? I know just enough about DOS to be dangerous!

    I'm getting desperate, so any help you give will be treasured.  :-)

    Best,

    Sharon R.

    Sharon Roffey
    Queensland, Australia

    Thursday, May 1, 2014 12:55 AM
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    I know this was a long time ago but it's so nice to find someone who actually understands the REAL issues and has a solution which might (I hope) work!

    Of course repair install is useless.  I thought Win7 was actually quite good until I've been given recently 2 problems to be solved and a simple repair install would have done it.  Maybe explains why my development computer is still on XP and my servers run Linux! 

    My current proble shows the registry files ALL to be 262KB and ALL the RegBack copies to be the same size.  Clearly they're corrupt!  The rstrui available from the boot DVD shows me 5 restore points but doesn't let me use any of them because of this crazy "you must enable system protection on this drive".

    Windows 8 seems to have even more silliness with the inability to boot into safe mode unless you can first get into normal mode!  I really think M$ are losing the plot.

    Friday, October 17, 2014 5:19 PM
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    "My current main Windows 7 workstation is as quick and nimble as ever, logs 0 errors or warnings, stays up 24/7 between scheduled reboots (e.g., for Windows updates), and does the TONS of multitasking work I ask it to without fault or complaint."

    HAHAHAH AHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHA HAH AH AHA H

    I am genuinely shocked to find a Windows based PC that "logs 0 errors or warnings". That is like the holy grail of modern computing. However my spider senses are tingling, oh I just remembered that the Holy grail is a myth and completely not founded in factual evidence.

    Now, I'm not calling you a liar yet, but unless you can provide concrete evidence that your system does, as you said and never logs any errors or warnings, well then I think I and all of the other readers of your post should disregard you as a liar or a magician of modern computing to whom we should all bow in submission.

    Abracadabra

    Wednesday, April 8, 2015 2:30 PM
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    For what it's worth, I'm no longer running Windows 7.  I'm now running Windows 8.1, and my computer STILL doesn't log regular errors or warnings.

    I'm not sure the reason for your skepticism, actual computer technician.  An actual engineer with 4 decades experience is telling you it can run well.  Perhaps you should describe the errors and warnings you're seeing and we can strive to eliminate them.

    Not that I owe any kind of proof, but here's what I see in my Event Viewer just now...

    -Noel

    Detailed how-to in my eBooks:  

    Configure The Windows 7 "To Work" Options
    Configure The Windows 8 "To Work" Options

    Wednesday, April 8, 2015 6:23 PM
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    I did work back far enough to find an error during the last bootup...  Microsoft thinks it's an error to run with UAC disabled...

    -Noel

    Detailed how-to in my eBooks:  

    Configure The Windows 7 "To Work" Options
    Configure The Windows 8 "To Work" Options

    Wednesday, April 8, 2015 6:33 PM
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    I develop plug-in software for Photoshop.  Thus I see occasional application failures when I screw up my plug-in code and cause a Photoshop crash (then use Visual Studio to debug it, etc. etc.).  That explains virtually all the failures here.  See any Windows Failures over the past few weeks?

    The one warning was me working on my installer...

    -Noel

    Detailed how-to in my eBooks:  

    Configure The Windows 7 "To Work" Options
    Configure The Windows 8 "To Work" Options

    Wednesday, April 8, 2015 6:47 PM
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    Not sure what else I can show you...

    -Noel

    Detailed how-to in my eBooks:  

    Configure The Windows 7 "To Work" Options
    Configure The Windows 8 "To Work" Options

    Wednesday, April 8, 2015 6:50 PM
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    Thanks a lot!!!

    You save me hours and hours off investigation to repair the error tha i make trying to clean trace of "security system of a bank" that need no permision to make changes in the system, (i delete some important entries of registry that change the response and the asociation off the system proceses and archives)

    Thank you again.

    Regards.

    Tuesday, August 4, 2015 8:05 PM
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    Not sure if you found a fix to your issue but i have a similar file corruption problem only more complex.

    My problem is i show possible restore points but no way to get to them. Registry files seem be corrupted and have run sfc /scannow and force from command prompt little luck. My windows os 7 64 bit will not boot into any windows mode but the recovery enviroment bootable startup disk. I had the famous black screen with mouse pointer symtom on boot and the machine went dead about June 2015. Has anyone found this bug to be from a windows update that was pushed as a patch? In older versions of windows os prior to windows 7 and xp you could replace the base system files with good copies. System32 and wow64 for 64 bit if you have 32 bit only need the system 32. You extact from the approriate win file on windows 7 cd using 7zip and then copy the files and drives as fresh files to replace all the bad system files in each directory depends on your os. I was able to get the machine fixed to a point where windows loads on startup from bios to winloader to intialization process but then goes to standard windows 7 login screen but i have no graphical picture or User name or password boxes to enter credentials. 

    Is there a tool or fix for this issue or a way to run diagnotiscs with out using dart for windows 7. I am looking for a bootable tool to find the code that is currently broke in the os to fix this issue. Is there such a tool out there?

    Also if you have a bad registry and sfc /scannow doesn't fix it and you have just a system image windows backup is it possible to extract the older registry from the windows backup to all a workable registry set of files? Is it possible to reconstruct the registry and make it workable and good again or a tool to help with this matter?

    Wim files you can extract with 7 zip i does most all.

    Windows products has always had bugs i wish microsoft would wise up with there design and make tools available to users to help them figure out the problem without having to reinstall or reimage the os and drive.

    Put command line option back in some how into windows instead of this safe mode. Save mode is not safe it gets corrupted. My issue i found malware and viruses but elimated them.

    Saturday, November 21, 2015 4:54 AM
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    Great tip.  Saved my ass.
    Monday, May 30, 2016 9:18 PM
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    Thank you! This worked for me!
    Wednesday, January 31, 2018 9:17 AM