Windows Repair All In One Reset Registry Permissions Crash Problem

[w8sdz]

When I run Reset Registry Permissions (the only fix I checked to be done) my Windows XP SP3 crashes every time I run this fix. It's hard to tell at what point it is crashing because information flashes by so fast, but it feels like it is near the end. Windows stops with a message that says Registry Error.

It's probably a damaged hive but I have no idea which one. It would be useful to trap fatal errors to display what occurred but that probably is not possible since the system is stopped at that point.

What is needed is a read-only registry scan to detect errors before trying to set permissions. That suggests a new tool that fixes the errors after they are found. One thing that can cause this type of registry error is one or more binary 0's at the end of an entry.

[Shane]

There should be a log file that shows which ones it last access that should help you.

Also make sure to do a bad sector check on the drive. It is possible part of a hive file is on a bad sector.

The program uses a tool from Microsoft to set the permissions. What was the exact error you got? See if it is in the event viewer and let me know

Shane

[w8sdz]

Looking at the Windows Repair logs I see the last four are local_machine_1 through 4. The 4th one has no content (zero length).

See attached Windows_Repair_Log.txt (I removed leading underscore in name). I question 02/03, which is hkey local machine. The fix is being run under current user account. Shouldn't that be under system account?

[Shane]

That repair is normally ran under the system account.

But if you are in safe mode it cant use the system account or if the \files\psexec.exe file is missing.

How are you running the program?

Shane

[w8sdz]

Previously I was running it in Normal Mode. Because it crashed I thought I should try Safe Mode. So, to answer your question, the run that I reported to you above was done in Safe Mode.

Yes, psexec.exe does exist in the \files\ directory. I am using the portable version of your program. It has its own folder in my Tools folder on the desktop.

[Shane]

Lets see if we can trace which hive under hkey local machine that has the problem.

Try this, grab my reg compressor
http://www.tweaking.com/content/page/tweaking_com_registry_compressor.html

Open it an just click 1. analyze, dont worry about 2. compressing.

What this does is it use the Windows API to read the registry hives to new files (Same API as the fall back backup method in the registry backup program when VSS fails). Run it and see if it has problems with any of the hives. The one that give you problems will be the hive your looking for

Shane

[w8sdz]

I ran Registry Compressor (Analyze) as you instructed. It completed without error. The program is still open - should I go ahead with Compress?

What determines the permissions of the new registry files that are created? If it is based on the original that could be a problem, but if it does "the right thing" it could resolve my problem by fixing some obscure problem with the original permissions.

[w8sdz]

I decided to take a chance and completed the registry compression. After a reboot I then ran the latest portable version of Windows Repair and selected only Reset Registry Permissions. This time in Normal Mode, not Safe Mode. It completed without error and instructed me to reboot. I did so and everything works. Not sure what fixed this unless the Compressor tool does the right thing in setting permissions no matter what the originals were.

BTW, I did not answer your question about checking for bad disk sectors. I did that before running the original test I reported. I also checked the NTFS status - it showed Clean.

I guess we can close this thread. I'll watch for your reply. Thanks for guiding me on this problem.

[Shane]

The compressor simply writes the registry to new files, including its current permissions.

It uses an API call, I think I know what happened.

The permissions tool tried to set permissions on a corrupt key, system crashed.
The compressor asks Windows to write the reg to new files, thus the corrupt keys are skipped.

Kinda cool when you think about it lol

Shane

[w8sdz]

Shane, that's good to know. Perhaps the Reset Permissions part of the tool should offer to remake the registry to remove corrupt keys as an option. It could even be an optional first step prior to the present Reset Registry at the top of the options tree.

[Shane]

Not sure yet, this is the first time anyone has had a corrupt reg key with the program out of a ton of systems it has been ran on.

Very good info to know though, I should add it to the help page for it

Shane