Managed to corrupt my registry, help?

[dk]

i have a sony laptop and was in a rush last night to leave and my laptop was taking ages to shut down so I jsut turned it off, done it loads of times with no repercussions but this time was different.

Now when i boot I get the windows logo then a blue screen complaining the registry blah/blah/software section is corrupt.

I can use the restore CD from sony but that will lose me all my c:drive info and thats not really an option.

So, if I use a windows xp boot cd can i repair a registry?

or can I boot from the cd and then copy the files i need to the D:drive and then run the sony restore?

or reinstall windows fromt he windows cd but that will lose all my settings and my documents and stuff on my desktop won't it?

Finally, could I boot off a USB key to get in or something else as i really need to get my stuff off the c:drive.

the ms knowledgebase shows you how to use recovery registry keys but it says not to do if for OEM installations.

I also saved a copy of my registry a few weeks back and put it on my desktop, can i boot in and copy that back to use it as that will be a good copy?

thanks in advance

 

[dk]

thinking about the fact that i exported the registry a few weeks back, how can I import it again without having windows running, is there a way as i know thats a good copy of the registry, its just saved to my desktop?

 

[Vish]

I think there is an option on the windows cd to repair windows, I don't THINK this formats your harddrive but read it all very carefully.

Also don't think you can boot from a usb stick, go to your bios to see. Find the order to boot up from, normally floppy disc (if you have one), cd, harddrive. From memory, booting from usb has never been an option. Does it start up in safe mode??

 

[Vish]

See if this helps.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/

 

[Longy]

can you boot to last known configuration?

 

[Capture_db]

if you boot from cd and select repair there is an option for it jsut to repair your registry and using the repair featue SHOULD'T format your harddrive

 

[dk]

I think there is an option on the windows cd to repair windows, I don't THINK this formats your harddrive but read it all very carefully.

Also don't think you can boot from a usb stick, go to your bios to see. Find the order to boot up from, normally floppy disc (if you have one), cd, harddrive. From memory, booting from usb has never been an option. Does it start up in safe mode??

no it won't start in safe mode

 

[dk]

can you boot to last known configuration?

nope, that doesn't work either

 

[dk]

if you boot from cd and select repair there is an option for it jsut to repair your registry and using the repair featue SHOULD'T format your harddrive

i will try this once I get my hands on an xp disk but at the moment i haven't got one of those, damn OEM's using hidden partitions rather than discs these days!

 

[dk]

See if this helps.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/

was looking at that but it says not to do it on an OEM machine, and guess what, OEM xp home!

 

[dk]

i was thinking about installing windows onto second partition and then copying the registry over to the c: to then allow it to start and then importing the registry I have exported on my desktop.

just need to know if when you install the second version of windows on the second partition whethr i lose any data or whether it will just use the space it has as it doesn't need to be formatted as it already is?

 

[Vish]

i was thinking about installing windows onto second partition and then copying the registry over to the c: to then allow it to start and then importing the registry I have exported on my desktop.

just need to know if when you install the second version of windows on the second partition whethr i lose any data or whether it will just use the space it has as it doesn't need to be formatted as it already is?

Tbh I'm not too sure about that. Best bet atm is to try googling it, there are a lot of good sites about xp etc and should be a lot about registry on there.

Is there not a sony disc with windows options to repair windows without formatting?

Btw, if you were thinking of upgrading your harddrive now would be the best time lol

 

[dk]

i was thinking about installing windows onto second partition and then copying the registry over to the c: to then allow it to start and then importing the registry I have exported on my desktop.

just need to know if when you install the second version of windows on the second partition whethr i lose any data or whether it will just use the space it has as it doesn't need to be formatted as it already is?

Tbh I'm not too sure about that. Best bet atm is to try googling it, there are a lot of good sites about xp etc and should be a lot about registry on there.

Is there not a sony disc with windows options to repair windows without formatting?

Btw, if you were thinking of upgrading your harddrive now would be the best time lol

LOL, i don't think i can upgrade to much really, it already has a 100gb hdd and i'm not sure there is anything that much bigger to go in the laptop

unfortunately its about 90gb full too so a hell of a lot of info on it i need!

thanks for the advice though, will see what I can find out and see how I get on.

Unfortunately the only option with the Sony disc is to factory reset it which formats C:!

 

[Munday]

I have a Sony laptop too Dave and I don't think there is going to be a way of booting it after you have stuck the restore disk in. Only thing I can suggest is to remove the HDD and mount it in a laptop HDD caddy and copy everything off and then reinstall windows or revert back to the backups you do when you first use the laptop.

 

[dk]

I have a Sony laptop too Dave and I don't think there is going to be a way of booting it after you have stuck the restore disk in. Only thing I can suggest is to remove the HDD and mount it in a laptop HDD caddy and copy everything off and then reinstall windows or revert back to the backups you do when you first use the laptop.

hmmm, yes, i am beginning to think this.

I am going to try and mount it with linux tomorrow and then maybe try and copy a software registry key onto it so that I can boot windows and then once I do that I can import the registry i have on the desktop, failing that I will get all my data off and reinstall from the sony dvd.

In reality its probably a good idea anyway as it will make it 10x faster than it was without all the crap i will have installed on it over the past 2 years.

Just need to make sure i can get my bookmarks and cookies from firefox and my pics off and then i'll just have to start rebuilding it I guess.

When you actually look at what you use daily on the pc it really doesn't amount to much and there is quite a bit you don't actually use!

 

[Stuart.Atkinson]

can you not create a boot disc from another pc? winME, winxp win98 etc? or even use something like hirens boot cd to get to a dos prompt and move/copy the reg?

 

[dk]

had my best techie mates work on it most of the afternoon including using hirens boot cd and there was nothing they could do in the end, it was well and truly fecked and it doesn't help that it was OEM as that makes it all the more difficult, wasn't even any backup registry files from the original installation.

In the end I have installed xp onto the D:drive and have copied everything off onto an external HDD and am about to use the sony recovery disc to put it back to factory spec.

At least it will be fast now LOL