Unexpected Computer Oddness (Josephus version)

[Josephus]

So this morning, went to turn on PC. Got a

stop: c0000218[Registry file failure]

"Registry Cannot Load the Hive (file): /systemroot/system32/config/software
or its log or alternate...might be lost, corrupt or frakked up.

Tried to restart on SAFE and all the other modes. Same thing. unplugged. Replugged, same thing.

Then, one last time, it suddently rebooted. This makes me even more worrisome?

Thoughts?

[DontSayBanana]

I'm confused; did it reboot successfully the last time?

Either way, plan on reinstalling the OS; what that message means is it can't load the registry, and the registry is everything that makes Windows work; it tells Windows how files should be opened and closed, what driver software should be referenced to interface with the hardware... if that's corrupt, Windows just won't work, period.

[Josephus]

Yeah, the last time it unexpectedly rebooted sucessfully, which is what I find odd. All indications are it shouldn't fix itself.

It may happen again once I shut down though.

[DontSayBanana]

Yeah, the last time it unexpectedly rebooted sucessfully, which is what I find odd. All indications are it shouldn't fix itself.

It may happen again once I shut down though.

I'd try reinstalling the OS; if you're getting intermittent corruption messages like that, it could be a sign that your hard drive is failing.

[Josephus]

Ok...silly question. (I'm a dumb computer guy)...reinstalling the OS is as simple as inserting the Vista disk in right? does it wipe everything out, or would all the settings, files, documents, games, etc, still be on the HD afterwards?

[Alexandru H.]

Ok...silly question. (I'm a dumb computer guy)...reinstalling the OS is as simple as inserting the Vista disk in right? does it wipe everything out, or would all the settings, files, documents, games, etc, still be on the HD afterwards?

It's more like: "Fuck, everything is gone" if the stuff is on the C: drive.

[Josephus]

Yeah everything is on C: so, that would mean an OS reinstall would kill everything? 

[DontSayBanana]

In general, yes, you've got to reformat (i.e. kill) the C drive to reinstall Vista.  If you can, take out the hard drive, slave it (hook it up as secondary) to another computer, and take all the files you'll need off it before you reinstall Vista.

[grumbler]

If the comp is working now, I would back up everything possible to DVD/CD rather than trying to hook it up as a slave to another computer.  You really don't want to shut your computer down until you have backed up as much as possible.

Do an online drive diagnostic after backing up and before shutting down, and then do a system disk check when you do decide you are ready to shut down (i.e. reboot the comp before removing the drive but after setting up the disk-check tool).  If the drive is failing, re-installing the OS is a waste of time.

[Josephus]

Thanks grumbler. Yeah, I haven't shut down since, since I'm in the process of saving all my por files.

How do I do an online drive diagnostic  and a system disc check?

[grumbler]

Actually, the online test is done through Speedfan, which you don't have. Sorry, didn't think about that when I posted.

Go to http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287 and follow the links to download your manufacturer's diagnostic tools.

A quick check can be done by opening My Computer, right-clicking on your drive and selecting properties, then the tool tab, and "error checking" (this is the same place as the tool for defragmentation).  If you want it to correct errors, it will need to restart your machine, so don't pick that option yet.  Do all the other tests and back up everything first.

If error-checking and your manufacturer's diagnostics find no problems, then go ahead and reload the software.  I would create a C and a D partition, though, so you don't lose everything when you have an OS problem.  Just make the C partition 25-50 gigs and then, in windows, create the D partition form what is left.  User the D partition for everything except the OS.  Every once in a while, back up your registry to the D drive.  If you every have a problem, you can reinstall the OS and then just coy over the registry rather than reinstalling everything.

[Cerr]

Before you reinstall windows, download and install ccleaner. There's a feature that scans and repairs registry errors. It might be able to fix your problem.

[DontSayBanana]

Before you reinstall windows, download and install ccleaner. There's a feature that scans and repairs registry errors. It might be able to fix your problem.

If the Vista flavor is Home Premium, I would not recommend doing this- Vista HP doesn't take kindly to registry cleaners; I used CCleaner on my laptop and spent the next 3 days fighting to get it to boot.

[grumbler]

Before you reinstall windows, download and install ccleaner. There's a feature that scans and repairs registry errors. It might be able to fix your problem.

If the Vista flavor is Home Premium, I would not recommend doing this- Vista HP doesn't take kindly to registry cleaners; I used CCleaner on my laptop and spent the next 3 days fighting to get it to boot.

I'd say you definitely don't let it do anything automatically. Running crapcleaner and allowing it to point to different files is pretty risk-free, though.  It backs up the registry at the beginning, so restoring it isn't a biggie.

[DontSayBanana]

I'd say you definitely don't let it do anything automatically. Running crapcleaner and allowing it to point to different files is pretty risk-free, though.  It backs up the registry at the beginning, so restoring it isn't a biggie.

I wouldn't exactly call it "not a biggie" when the system refuses to boot because of the "folder System32 is corrupted or missing" error; makes it kinda hard to get in there and restore the registry.