Hi Ronn, OK, I can see that you have put a lot of effort on this. I feel real bad because I think this is a lost cause. Your registry is very corrupt, and it won't come back. Most likely the corruption started some time ago, and it culminated into this mess. This is my advice as someone who has been there many many times, and makes his living at fixing bad computer problems.
1> Accept your losses and move on. Your time spent on this is not worth it.(Think about it- at even 10$/hr you are most likely into this about 10 hours. Your wife is probably getting pretty upset.) 2> Chalk up your experience of buying a computer from a vendor without rescue disks, licenses as a learned lesson. 3> Pay the blood money to Microsoft and buy XP. XP will have all of the drivers you need. If you want I will send you a copy of XP that does not require registration (I know its wrong, but it fixes your problem.) The alterative is cracking the case, and trying to figure out who makes each card you don't have drivers for, downloading them, and hope that works. A caveat to this is you do need a beefy computer for this. If you don't have one, I would consider Windows 2000 instead. Otherwise, in the long run, XP is by far the most stable product MS has done. It may even fix your CD-ROM recording problems. 4> Most software will rewrite its registry information to the registry once activated. You just have to re create icons. This is as simple as dragging and dropping. If you do a fresh install, this is not so bad from the perspective of the installed software. Drivers are a different issue. 5> The windows\inf directory is where the driver information files are located (*.inf)The drivers themselves are not stored here. 6> Once you do a clean install, you will find your computer runs much faster. If a miracle happens and your do restore the regisry or parts of it, you can count on annoying problems until you do a clean install. So there it is ... the professional and personal recommendation from the Nerd From Hell. Take for what its worth. As I always say, There is nothing that can't be fixed with a 10 lb sledge. Sometimes it takes a sledge. Good Luck. > -----Original Message----- > From: Ronn Blankenship > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Friday, February 15, 2002 11:33 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: Responses to Irregulars Question on Win 98 > Registry Problem > (L3 & technical) > > > Thanks to all those who have replied! > > My earlier description of the problem: > > >Hi, you experts . . . > > > >Over the weekend, my Win 98 machine refused to boot. It reported a > >registry problem, and SCANREG did not fix it. A friend of > mine locally > >who does this kind of thing for a living said I needed to > reinstall Win 98 > >to correct the problem. Numerous attempts to reinstall it > from the .CAB > >files in the C:\WIN98 directory to the C:\WINDOWS directory > all resulted > >in the message: > > > >"Message SU995028 > >Setup encountered an error while creating registry keys. If > the problem > >persists, you will not be able to upgrade but should install > Windows 98 to > >a new directory. (0x13a4)" > > > >Finally, I took its advice and created a new directory and > installed it > >there. Not only does that mean that I will have to > reinstall all the > >software before it can work, but for some reason it cannot > find any of the > >proper drivers: for example, it refuses to let the monitor > show anything > >but 16 colors, 640x480 resolution. > > > >What I would like to do, of course, is to get back to where > I was last > >week or so, without the impending registry problem. I have > exhausted my > >store of ideas on what to try (and my friend is not > currently available > >and I don't want to keep bothering him for free advice, > anyway), so I got > >my old Win 95 machine running (or at least walking) so I > could ask for help. > > > >Is there some way I can do something like copy the registry > file from the > >new directory into the old C:\WINDOWS directory, then try > reinstalling > >there again with any hope of success? Or is there something > else I can try? > > > >Thanks, > >-- Ronn! :) > > > A bit more of the chronology, etc.: > > > This happened Sunday night/Monday morning around midnight. > By that time, > the computer had been up if not all day, most of the day. > (And, FWIW, NAV > had run its weekly full-system virus scan that > morning-scheduled at the > same time as Church-and hadn't found anything AFAIK.) I had just > downloaded a batch of e-mail and was trying to copy and paste > something > from one message into a new message to forward to someone > else. The c&p > wasn't working properly, so I rebooted. It came back up with > the screen > which gives the choices of "Normal", "Safe mode", etc., and > said to choose > "5. Command Prompt Only" and then run SCANREG. I did that > numerous times, > with no luck (see below). As it was the middle of the night > and I couldn't > think of any source of help available at the time (other than > over the > Internet, which I couldn't get to), I turned the computer off > and called it > a night. > > I think I may have tried it again Monday on the off chance > that it was one > of those problems that seems to clear itself up, but of > course it wasn't. > > Tuesday morning, I was able to get hold of the friend I > mentioned in my > earlier message, and he said that I needed to reinstall > Windows 98 over the > old installation and that when I did, everything would still > be there as it > had been. To get it started to do that, I needed a Win 98 > startup disk, > which meant I needed another (working) computer that was > running Win 98. I > tried to make one Tuesday night on a computer at school, but when I > started, it asked for the Win 98 CD, which of course I didn't > have with me, > and no one else who was around at the time had one, either. > > So I tried again Wednesday night with another Win 98 machine > with the a Win > 98 CD at hand. This time, it didn't ask for the CD. (Of > course.) After I > got home, I used the startup disk to try to reinstall Win 98 > over the old > installation, with the aforementioned results . . . > > > > Responses I received: > > >The Fool wrote: > > > > > > > > > Do you have any backups you have made in the past? Look > for a backup > > > file System.da0 . > > > > I know the file you are referring to. Doubt if I have one > that would be of > much use, 'cuz AFAIK it creates a new one from the SYSTEM.DAT > file every > time it starts. Though it seems like I've seen a third file named > SYSTEM.<something-or-other> on occasion. I'd have to check > the "Modified" > dates to see if any of them date from before Sunday night. > > > > > > > > > You can move the registry from your temporary > installation into your old > > > installation but you will encounter problems. > > > > > > 1 wipe the new installation. > > > > > > 2 rename the old windows directory winold (move windows winold). > > > > > > 3 reinstall from cd, with the directory windows > > > > > > 4 copy system.dat and user.dat to another directory. > > > > > > 5 move windows winnew > > > > > > 6 move winold windows > > > > > > 7 backup / rename your current registry files > > > > > > 8 copy the new system.dat file into the windows directory > > > > > > you _Will_ lose installation information about everything that was > > > previously installed on your computer, but by this point > you are screwed > > > anyway. > > > > > > Need more information about the video problem. What did > you do to try to > > > change the mode? > > > > First, tried changing the values on the "Display Properties | > Settings" window. > > Then, told it to look for a different driver. Told it > specifically to look > in the old C:\WINDOWS directory. It always went back to the > new directory > and selected what appears to be the most basic generic driver > available. The specific driver it needs does not seem to be listed > anywhere in the list of drivers Win 98 provides. I tried things like > changing it from a generic VGA to something like a generic > Super VGA with > higher resolution, etc., and after rebooting, it would always > be back to > the same basic generic driver and mode. > > > > > > What video card do you have? What drivers have you > installed for this > > video card? > > > > The quick answer to both questions is "The one that came > already installed > in the computer that worked fine prior to now." To find out > would require > swapping machines again, turning that machine on, and hoping > it would tell me. > > > > > > Windows doesn't always magically have a > > > driver for everything, they have to be installed from the > vendors disks, > > > etc. > > > > No such disks were provided with the computer when I bought > it. Everything > was "pre-installed." (Which, of course, is a major reason > why I want to > get it back the way it was.) And the last time I tried to > get some help > from the people that built the computer-specifically with some > documentation about some of the stuff that was installed in > it-they were no > help at all. > > (And if anyone asks why I hadn't copied it all as a backup, I > refer you to > the discussion we had on the list a few weeks ago on the > failure rate of > the blank CDs I got from CompUSA, which in the ones I have > tested out of > the 200 I purchased is a consistent 100%. Since discovering > that problem > when I went to use the blank disks, I've not had the funds to > purchase a > similar quantity of higher quality. And at about $100 per > GB, there is no > way I could have obtained enough Zip disks for the purpose.) > > > > >Nick Arnett wrote: > > > > > > Ugh. I just had a laptop fail and I've copied its drive > onto a different > > > machine, so I'm facing some of the same ugliness. > > > > > > There's no good way to fix the registry, in my experience > (and I have far > > > too much). If you don't have very many things installed > > > > Shirley, you jest. The 80GB hard drive I mentioned on the > list awhile back > was not a frivolous option, being nearly half-full already. (And not > simply with old e-mail. ;-) ) > > > > > (unlikely), you > > > could go through the painful and tedious process of > copying the application > > > keys from the old registry (if you can open it) > > > > That is my first question. Where is the old one, especially > since the > system says it can't find it? I know that sometimes files > that get munged > get stored somewhere like C:\WINDOWS\TEMP under a different > name; does > anyone know what I might look for to see if there is a copy somewhere? > > > > > > into the new one, then > > > swapping as you suggest. But without the application > keys, swapping it > > will > > > just make your life miserable. And it won't know where > the correct Windows > > > directory is, so you'd have to fix that in the registry. > > > > > > You could try and find a registry tool that would tell > you the differences > > > between your new one and the old one, so you could decide > what to copy. > > > > Does such a tool exist anywhere? Does the Registry Editor in Norton > SystemWorks have that capability? Or would one have to open > the old one, > save it as a text file, then compare by eye and copy the > information into > the new one? > > Obviously, not _everything_ has to be copied. But I do need > to somehow > restore the stuff that came pre-installed with no disks, if > at all possible. > > > > > > > > > You can export a whole registry tree at a time, so it's > not really, really > > > horrible. Just really. > > > > > > It probably can't find drivers because there's an > incorrect registry key > > > telling it where to look for them. The registry is an > abomination, by the > > > way. > > > > At least you're not telling me how easy this would be in Linux (which > partition of the disk I fortunately had done essentially > nothing with as > yet, so there was naught to lose except the BootMagic > selection screen when > I boot up) or on a Mac. Unfortunately, most of us who want to be > compatible with the rest of the world are still at Bill > Gates's mercy . . . > > > > > > > > > You're certain you don't have the registry backed up somewhere? > > > > > > Not to my knowledge, unless I can find it somewhere. > > > > > Nick > > > > > > > > > >Chad Cooper wrote: > > > > > > HOLD ON... > > > > > > http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q221512 > > > > > > There is a utility called scanreg that should be on your > hard drive. > > > > Yes. When the problem first occurred, it said to choose "5. > Command Prompt > Only" and then run SCANREG. Which I did numerous times. > SCANREG would > open in a blue screen, it would say something like "Checking > system files . > . . " at the bottom of the screen, then that would be > replaced by "Backing > up system files . . ." and then a "C:\>" prompt would appear at the > upper-left of the screen (with the SCANREG blue screen and > the "Backing up > system files . . . " still on-screen). I waited a while to > see if anything > else would happen with that screen, and when nothing did, I > tried typing > "win" at the prompt. It would start and get as far as the > splash screen > before informing me: > > > "While initializing device VKD. > > Windows protection error. You need to restart your computer. > > Press any key to continue . . . " > > > upon which the same sequence would repeat itself, as would my > verbalizations of annoyance. (Though the latter would rise > in volume and > intensity with each iteration.) > > > A couple of times I tried selecting "4. Single step mode" > (or whatever it > says). After executing the AUTOEXEC.BAT file but before > getting to the > above, it would inform me: > > > "Registry file not found. Registry services may be > unavailable for this > session." > > > The next command it would try to run would be "scvmd.386", > and after I > pressed "y", it would then display the above sequence > starting with "While > initializing device VKD." and then require restarting. > > > Options 1., 2., and 3. all failed to work, and option "6. Safe Mode > Command Prompt Only" led to a message informing me that I > could not use > that option because the computer needed HIMEM to run and that was not > available in that mode. > > > > > > It > > > comes with Windows 98. I have included a MS KB article > that describes > > how to > > > repair or revert to older registries. Sometimes this works. > > > > And sometimes curly-tailed barnyard animals spontaneously > become airborne . > . . ;-) > > > > > > > > > Feel free to tap me for help offline. > > > Nerd From Hell > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > SUMMARY > > > This article describes how to restore a backup copy of > the Windows 98 or > > > Windows Millennium Edition (Me) registry. > > > > > > MORE INFORMATION > > > Under normal circumstances, Windows is capable of > detecting and recovering > > > from registry errors automatically. > > > > Obviously, _that_ ship sailed Sunday night, leaving me in abby-normal > circumstances . . . > > > > > > If Windows is incapable of this, a > > > previous copy of the registry can be restored manually. > Windows makes and > > > stores a backup of the registry when you start your > computer successfully > > > each day. By default, five previous copies or the > registry are stored. > > > > If this means it makes and stores a backup *once each day* > when & if the > computer is successfully started, then I might be in luck. > > If it means that it makes and stores a new backup *every time > the computer > is restarted* and only keeps the most recent five, then I all > it has is > five copies of the new one, since every time I tried to > change the display > settings to the correct values it said "You must restart your > computer for > the new settings to take effect," and I tried that far more > than five times > (although the result every time, whether it displayed an > error message or > not, was that it was still set to 640x480, 16 colors). > > (Yeah, I know it probably means the second one. I can check, anyway.) > > > > >To > > > restore one of these previous copies: > > > > > > Start your computer, press and hold CTRL, and then choose > Safe Mode Command > > > Prompt Only from the Windows 98 Startup menu. If you are running > > Windows Me, > > > start your computer with the startup disk. > > > > > > At the MS-DOS prompt, type cd\windows\command , and then > press ENTER. > > > > > > Where windows is the name of the folder in which Windows > is installed. > > > > > > At the C: prompt, type scanreg /restore , and then press ENTER. > > > > > > Select the previous registry you want to restore, and > then press ENTER. > > > > > > NOTE : A properly working registry has the word "Started" > next to the date. > > > > > > When you receive notification that you restored a > properly working > > registry, > > > press ENTER to restart your computer. > > > > > > > > At 00:12 15-02-02 -0600, you wrote: > >The Fool wrote: > > > > > > ---------- > > > > From: Nick Arnett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > > > > > Ugh. I just had a laptop fail and I've copied its drive onto a > > > different > > > > machine, so I'm facing some of the same ugliness. > > > > > > > > There's no good way to fix the registry, in my > experience (and I have > > > far > > > > too much). If you don't have very many things > installed (unlikely), > > > you > > > > could go through the painful and tedious process of copying the > > > application > > > > keys from the old registry (if you can open it) into > the new one, then > > > > swapping as you suggest. But without the application > keys, swapping it > > > will > > > > just make your life miserable. And it won't know where > the correct > > > Windows > > > > directory is, so you'd have to fix that in the registry. > > > > > > > > You could try and find a registry tool that would tell you the > > > differences > > > > between your new one and the old one, so you could > decide what to copy. > > > > > > He would be lost trying to do that. > > > > Not necessarily. I've just never done it before (obviously). > It can't > necessarily be a lot harder in principle than some of the > things I've done > on mainframes, back when the only possible meaning of "PC" > was a spring > break destination in Florida . . . > > > > > > The only important keys in this case > > > anyway would be under hkey_current_user.software and > > > hkey_local_machine.software, avoiding the mircrosoft subkey. > > > > > > Even then it would be painful, things wouldn't be right, > and would still > > > be simpler to just reinstall all the programs from scratch. > > > > Ass�u�me-ing that I had the disks from which to do so . . . > > > > > > > > > The real problem is that some programs like to install > stealth GUIDs that > > > are hard to pin down. > > > > > > > You can export a whole registry tree at a time, so it's > not really, > > > really > > > > horrible. Just really. > > > > > > > > It probably can't find drivers because there's an > incorrect registry > > > key > > > > telling it where to look for them. The registry is an > abomination, by > > > the > > > > way. > > > > > > No. The new install / registry would have no information about > > > non-default microsoft supplied drivers. These are > ussually contained in > > > the windows/inf directory, AND some bits in the registry. > > > > Is that also where the non-Micro$oft drivers would be found? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > You're certain you don't have the registry backed up somewhere? > > > > > > > > Nick > > > > > > > > -- Ronn! :) > >
