Windows Registry question(s)

[MagicFingers]

I have used "scanreg /fix" several times with great success in Win '98.
Does any equivalent exist in XP or XP Pro, or W2K Pro?

I found "Registry Mechanic" in Download .com and tried it.
It "Found" over 100 "Errors", but would only let me "Fix" 5 of them without buying it. And the fix for those 5 was "Delete" the registry entry. I'm leary about deleting a registry entry when I don't know what the entry is/was for.

Does anyone know about this or any other program that will scan and fix XP registry?

Thanks

 

[Darobe9926]

Silly question

But what exactly is wrong with your registry? Is it corrupt somehow or do you think there is a program on it that is causing problems?

 

[MagicFingers]

Re: Silly question

But what exactly is wrong with your registry? Is it corrupt somehow or do you think there is a program on it that is causing problems?

Certain worms, deleted programs, shortcuts, system problems, etc can cause problems in the registry.
A worm can be removed, but leave registry entries that have no automatic tool to remove. A registry cleaner MIGHT help fix some of those problems and make the system run better.
???
I just loaded Tweak Now Reg Cleaner, which is FREE.
(I'm monetarily challenged right now)
If anyone is curious, I'll let you know how it runs.
I'm still afraid to just delete entries without knowing what they are. The other program DID create a backup, but...
And it wasn't free.

 

[ReadyOne]

Messing with registry entries requires detailed knowlege. However, there tends to accumulate a bunch of "orphan" entries from program installs, deletes, upgrades, fixes, etc. Programs like Norton SystemWorks and Registry Mechanic can find a delete them.

they don't do much harm, other than occupying space and time. Compressing a registry is hard to do, so deleteing them doesn't buy you that much.

Scanreg /fix generally doesn't worry about the contents of the registry, just that it can be accessed. It's favorite "repair" is to restore a saved version. q.v regscan /backup or regscan /restore

So what problem are you trying to solve?

 

[ReadyOne]

scanreg /fix won't fix any problems you describe on a Win 9x system.

Do be carefull of older registry cleaning programs. They can damage MSI (MicroSoft Installer) information. The Regclean MS used to distribute has been pulled for this (and other) reasons.

 

[MagicFingers]

Scanreg

scanreg /fix won't fix any problems you describe on a Win 9x system.

Do be carefull of older registry cleaning programs. They can damage MSI (MicroSoft Installer) information. The Regclean MS used to distribute has been pulled for this (and other) reasons.

OK, what DOES scanreg /fix fix?
I just know it brings dead computers back to life. And that was not a restode of a saved user.dat file or whatever it does for restore.

I suspect some worms have left damage in a couple of friend's pc's after their worm was removed or left on its own.

Another problem I saw was a blue screen error screen that has happened about 4 times in a week or so. Looking at his logs, event viewer, I think, I see repeated errors in MSIInstaller while he is doing normal things on the PC, not installing anything!\

He has had previous Word problems and is having some now. The old problem was caused by a registry entry that could not be fixed any other way than editing in new normal.dot template info.

That's why I'm looking for a program that will scan and fix errors there. What I'm looking for is more like the old Norton utilities WinDoctor, which found and gave solutions to many types of Windows and registry problems. I just can't remember or list them well here. (Poor memory & lack of knowledge)

 

[Darobe9926]

WinDoctor is a really good program and I use it a lot to fix users machines. For the Word problem your friend is having have you tried uninstalling it and reinstalling it? (Sorry if it sounds like a stupid question. It's the network admin in me that made me do it.)

If that didn't work I had other tricks that might work that might help but giong through the steps is best.

Also to try and answer your question about scanreg /fix. As far as my foggy memory goes it replaces your current registry with a backup that Windoze makes on it's own when the computer is started, usually it keeps 3 or so, that it puts into a hidden file squireled away deep in the Windows directory.

Hope that helps

 

[ReadyOne]

I think you're still confused a bit about the registry and how it's used, and also about MSI.

MSI can be a "front end" to programs heavily committed to it, for example t hose whichc an be installed with a "install on first use" option. In fact, there's a MSI stub used to start Word and Outlook, etc. for the first time. It looks like you are starting Word (icon and all) but you are really starting MSI which looks to see that Word is installed and then (after possibly doing some more installation work delayed until "first use") give control to Word iteslf. When Word calls for certain features, it actually calls MSI to see if they are installed.

THe normal.dot templaate and the registry have nothing directly to do with each other. However, Word does keep a lot of options in the registry as well as in normal.dot so messing with either can have effects in the other. Many Word problems can be fix by deleteing a couple of keys from the registry and letting Word rebuild them.

scanreg dows 2 things. First, it does somthing similar to what CHKDSK does, onlit it does it against the internal structures of the registry where CHKDSK does it against the file system structures. Second, it makes and restores backs. Look for a startup item that reruns scanreg each time you boot. That's where the "hidden" backups are being made.

 

[ReadyOne]

Oh, and like the poster says, go get Norton System Works (for the WinDoctor function). It runs on NT/2K/XP as will as 95, 9x and ME.

 

[again]

I'm no expert, but it is a known fact that tempering with the registry can have dangerous effects. The "programs" that you are mentioning here will be a waste of money, if you go by me. If you do have a problem, try fixing it the easy way. Use System Restore or something like that, or try to find the root of the problem and act accordingly.
Firstly, try using "MS Config" to sort out a problem.

 

[MagicFingers]

Thanks guys

For the input.