I messed with the registry and now a lot of things don't work. Please help

[exquisitepotato]

Hello, I had trouble installing Atmel Studio, and as a result I found some advice online to change some registry settings. I did so, except I did not follow the instructions correctly, and inevitabely screwed up. I did not know what I was doing, and did not create any backups of the registry

I tried running the tweaker tool, but it failed and said that "This repair is hidden by windows itself" when trying to run the reset file permissions. Running without it didn't work.

OS: Windows Vista Home Basic Sp2

Symptoms: Windows defender can't update, says "out of memory", wireless connections panel also says out of memory. Audio doesn't work. System restore cannot open due to an error. Windows installer doesn't work at all.

What I've already tried: sfc /SCANNOW does nothing. msirepair.reg from the microsoft forums doesn't work. Ran ccleaner registry thing and it did something, but the problem persists.

What I did to cause the problem: I ran these commands using subinacl https://toster.ru/q/4832 http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2673275/how-do-i-fix-an-invalid-license-data-reinstall-is-required-error-in-visual-c http://blogs.msdn.com/b/astebner/archive/2006/09/04/solving-setup-errors-by-using-the-subinacl-tool-to-repair-file-and-registry-permissions.aspx I tried all of them, and may have screwed up some steps.

Additional info: My system locale is in Russian, so the computer doesn't recognize the "everyone" usergroup. I can't find a way to see the user groups, as windows home basic doesn't let you see in mmc--> local users, etc.
Please help me restore the pc back to normal, and help reset the registry if that is possible without reinstalling windows.
Perhaps there's a way to undo the changes I've made? Is there a way to see those changes?

Thanks a lot for any help!

Should I proceed with this? I DO have the install disc. http://vistasupport.mvps.org/repair_a_vista_installation_using_the_upgrade_option_of_the_vista_dvd.htm

[Boggin]

The repair install is probably your best option, but if you are using a branded machine you could have the factory reset option - although you would need to back up any personal stuff and make a note of any 3rd party program licence keys.

As for the repair install, I think you will find this article more informative http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/Recovering-Repairing-Windows-Vista.htm

I should think that your Vista install disk won't have any of the SPs and if you can slipstream SP2 onto it, you could see what an offboot sfc /scannow can do for the registry before going for the repair install.

Booting up with the install disk could also give you the option to see if your restore points will work.

For the offboot sfc /scannow you boot up with the install disk which could take you to an inverse window with Windows Set up (EMS Enabled) highlighted.

(I've only done this for Win 7 but would think it will be similar for Vista).

Anyway, pressing enter on that option will eventually take you to a splash screen where you select Repair your Computer and onto the Recovery Environment.

Select Command Prompt and enter the following commands.

bcdedit |find "osdevice" and using whichever partition letter that gives, enter this command (assuming C ) -

sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=C:\Windows

and this will compare and repair the system files.

Type and enter exit to close the command window.

I have an ISO for Vista Home Premium x32 bit SP2 ISO which I can remove the ei.cfg file from which will make it an universal Vista 32 bit SP2 and burn you a couple of disks to send to you - just PM me your address, although I've never sent anything to Russia before.

These disks are untried as I don't have a Vista Machine to try them out on, but I booted one of my Win 7 laptops up with one and it told me that it was for a different version to my install, but that was with it as a Home Premium disk.

[exquisitepotato]

Actually yes, that worked for me I ran the recovery disk that came with it, and although it wiped everything, it fixed the pc.

Thank you for your advice nevertheless, and your offer for help.

By the way, sfc /scannow never worked for me! I tried it before.

A repair install would likely have been more helpful to my issue, because I did have to start fresh and recover what I could with third party tools later. Good thing I backed it all up.

[Boggin]

Glad you were able to sort it.

In what way did sfc /scannow not work for you ?

[Rick]

Glad you were able to sort it.

In what way did sfc /scannow not work for you ?

Hi boggin,

A repair install would have sorted out the issues he had, I had found that running the (upgrade option) works ok too as it sees current programs installed right?

[Gamezertruth]

Glad you were able to sort it.

In what way did sfc /scannow not work for you ?

Hi boggin,

A repair install would have sorted out the issues he had, I had found that running the (upgrade option) works ok too as it sees current programs installed right?

so your issue had fix Rick ? as i tell you here http://www.tweaking.com/forums/index.php/topic,3263.msg23434.html#msg23434 and look like upgrade option did fix many SFC problem !