How do I detect and fix registry errors?

How to Access Windows' Registry

Editing your registry is a very sensitive process. You should never randomly edit your registry without specific instructions. If you make any mistakes in the editing process, you can easily disable your computer from starting up properly or other vital process. Its advised that you use a Registry Cleaner to fix PC registry problems

How to search your registry

You can easily open the registry by simply typing "regedit" into the RUN command line. Follow the instructions below:

1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type Regedit into the command line and press enter. The registry should load for your review.

Editing the Registry can be used to remove files and programs that wont delete. Often the registry files are not able to be removed by the program's installer. This can cause major conflicts since Windows will still try loading the program during startup. Find the program in question and remove all files and folders in the registry branch

How to Detect Registry Errors

1. • 1

Save any files you are working on and close any running applications. - 2

Click the "Start" or "Windows" button in the lower-left corner of your screen. - 3

Click the right-facing arrow next to the "Shut Down" button. A menu opens. - 4

Click the "Restart" option from the menu to restart your computer. As Windows boots, it will automatically check for and repair any registry errors using the native Scanreg.exe tool.

Hi,

If the computer will not startup you have hardware issues and need technical support. If

the BIOS/bootscreen will load but just not Windows then you might be able to re-install

Windows.

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You mean reinstall the OS completely? If you have the Windows 7 DVD's you can do this

however be sure to totally backup your data off the drive and you will need to reinstall your

programs. If you do not have Windows 7 Disks you can buy them from your system maker

cheap. If you do not care about existing programs then you can do a complete fresh install

• just select the format options which wipes the entire disk (this erases all data as well).

Some System makers use Recovery Partitions as well as other methods to allow you to

revert back to a completely fresh installation. So check with your System maker to see

what options you have to do that - and it certainly can be done - just a matter of knowing

the processes the System maker put in place for you.

How do I Perform a Clean Installation of Windows?

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/operatingsystems/f/clean-install-windows.htm

How to Do a Clean Installation with Windows 7 - this wipes ALL programs and data out

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

How to Boot to the System Recovery Options in Windows 7

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/668-system-recovery-options.html

What are the system recovery options in Windows 7?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/What-are-the-system-recovery-options-in-Windows-7

How to Do a Custom Installation of Windows 7

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/20146-custom-install-windows-7-a.html

How to Do a Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31402-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html

How to Do a Inplace Upgrade Installation from Vista to Windows 7

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1818-upgrade-install-windows-7-a.html

Installing and reinstalling Windows 7 (Upgrade - keep programs and data OR Clean Installation

which deletes them)

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Installing-and-reinstalling-Windows-7

How to Do a Repair Install to Fix Windows 7

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

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**If you need to make repair disks - these help repair Windows not re-install.**Often a Repair Disk will help when the Recovery Disk does not.

Download Windows 7 System Recovery Discs

http://neosmart.net/blog/2009/windows-7-system-repair-discs/

How to Create a Windows 7 System Repair Disc

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2083-system-repair-disc-create.html

======================================

If needed :

How to Do a Repair Install to Fix Windows 7

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

Hope this helps.

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Rob Brown - Microsoft MVP <- profile - Windows Expert - Consumer : Bicycle - Mark Twain said it right.

I have tried these things and no dice...doesn't fix the error.  Now I can no longer get into my computer.  Itwill not start up...keep getting start up error and it asks me to launch start up repair.  It finds errors and I am reporting them back to Microsoft but I cannot get into PC.  What do i need to do to do a clean install.  I am just calling it quits and want to start over....what do i need to do?

Hi,

Use the Clean Boot and other methods to try to determine the cause of and/or eliminate the issues.

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References to Vista also apply to Windows 7.

What antivirus/antispyware/security products do you have on machine? Include any you have EVER

had on this machine including those you uninstalled (they leave remnants behind which can cause

strange issues).

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Do these :

Try these to clear corruption and repair/replace damaged/missing system files.

Start - type this in Search Box ->  COMMAND   find at top and RIGHT CLICK  -  RUN AS ADMIN

Enter this at the prompt - sfc /scannow

How to Repair Windows 7 System Files with System File Checker

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

How to analyze the log file entries that the Microsoft Windows Resource Checker (SFC.exe) program

generates in Windows Vista cbs.log

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928228

Also run CheckDisk so we can rule out corruption as much as possible.

How to Run Disk Check in Windows 7

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html

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After the above :

How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista orWindows 7

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Use Advanced Tools to Troubleshoot Performance Problems in Windows 7

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/6152/use-advanced-tools-to-troubleshoot-performance-problems-in-windows-7/

Problems with overall system speed and performance

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/gp/slow_windows_performance?p=1

How to troubleshoot performance issues in Windows Vista

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950685

Optimizing Microsoft Windows Vista Performance

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959062

To see all that is loading bootup - wait a few minutes without doing anything - then Right Click

TaskBar - Task Manager - take a look at Appplications - Processes - Services - this is a quick

reference (if you have a little box on Lower Left - Show for All Users then check that).

How to Change, Add, or Remove Startup Programs in Windows 7http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1401-startup-programs-change.html

A quick check to see which are loading is Method 2 there - using MSCONFIG then post a list of

those here.

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Tools that should help :

Process Explorer - Free - Find out what files, registry keys and other objects processes have open,

which DLLs they have loaded, and more. This uniquely powerful utility will even show you who owns

each process.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

Autoruns - Free - See what programs are configured to startup automatically when your system boots

and you login. Autoruns also shows you the full list of Registry and file locations where applications can

configure auto-start settings.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

Process Monitor - Free - Monitor file system, Registry, process, thread and DLL activity in real-time.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx

There are many excellent free tools at Sysinternals

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx

WhatsInStartUP - Free - This utility displays the list of all applications that are loaded automatically

when Windows starts up. For each application, the following information is displayed: Startup Type (Registry/Startup Folder), Command -Line String, Product Name, File Version, Company Name,

Location in the Registry or file system, and more. It allows you to easily disable or delete unwanted

programs that runs in your Windows startup.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/what\_run\_in\_startup.html

There are many excellent free tools at NirSoft

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/index.html

Window Watcher - Free - Do you know what's running on your computer? Maybe not. The Window

Watcher tells all, reporting every window created by every running program, whether the window

is visible or not.

http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptwinwatch.asp

Many excellent free tools and an excellent newsletter at Karenware

http://www.karenware.com/

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Consider this an absolute must - manually updating your drivers.

Vista and Windows 7 love updated drivers so here is how to update the major ones.

This is my generic how to for proper driver updates :

This utility makes it easy to see which versions are loaded :

DriverView - Free - utility displays the list of all device drivers currently loaded on your system.

For each driver in the list, additional useful information is displayed: load address of the driver,

description, version, product name, company that created the driver, and more.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/driverview.html

For Drivers check System Maker as fallbacks and Device Maker's which are the most current.

Control Panel - Device Manager - Display Adapter - write down the make and complete model

of your video adapter - double click - Driver's tab - write down the version info. Now click UPdate

Driver (this may not do anything as MS is far behind certifying drivers) - then Right Click -

Uninstall - REBOOT this will refresh the driver stack.

Repeat that for Network - Network Card (NIC), Wifi, Sound, Mouse and Keyboard if 3rd party

with their own software and drivers and any other major device drivers you have.

Now go to System Maker's site (Dell, HP, Toshiba as examples) (as rollback) and then Device

Maker's site (Realtek, Intel, Nvidia, ATI as examples) and get their latest versions. (Look for

BIOS, Chipset and software updates at System Maker's site while there.)

Download - SAVE - go to where you put them - Right Click - RUN AD ADMIN - REBOOT after

each installation.

Always check in Device Manager - Drivers tab to be sure the version you are installing actually

shows up. This is because some drivers rollback before the latest is installed (sound drivers

particularly do this) so install a driver - reboot - check to be sure it is installed and repeat as

needed.

Repeat at Device Makers - BTW at Device Makers DO NOT RUN THEIR SCANNER - check

manually by model.

Manually look at manufacturer's sites for drivers - and Device Maker's sites.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/driverssupport/ht/driverdlmfgr.htm

Installing and updating drivers in Windows 7 (updating drivers manually using the methods

above is preferred to ensure the latest drivers from System maker and Device makers are

found)

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/43216-installing-updating-drivers-7-a.html

If you update drivers manually then it is a good idea to disable Driver Installations in Windows

Updates, this leaves Windows Updates ON however it will not install drivers which will usually be

older and cause issues. If Updates suggests a new driver then HIDE it (Right Click on it) and then

go look for new ones manually if you wish.

Stop Windows 7 from Automatically Installing Device Drivers

http://helpdeskgeek.com/windows-7/stop-windows-7-from-automatically-installing-device-drivers/

How To Disable Automatic Driver Installation In Windows 7 / Vista

http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/how-to-disable-automatic-driver-installation-in-windows-vista/

Disable Windows Update Device Driver Search Prompt In Windows 7 / Vista (for Professional,

Ultimate, and Enterprise)

http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/disable-windows-update-device-driver-search-prompt/

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Refer to these threads for many more excellent tips however be sure to check your antivirus

programs, update major drivers and BIOS, and also troubleshoot with the cleanboot method

first.

Problems with overall system speed and performance

http://support.microsoft.com/gp/slow\_windows\_performance/en-us

Performance and Maintenance tips

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7performance/thread/19e5d6c3-bf07-49ac-a2fa-6718c988f125

Windows Explorer has stopped working

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7performance/thread/6ab02526-5071-4dcc-895f-d90202bad8b3

Hope this helps.

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Rob Brown - Microsoft MVP <- profile - Windows Expert - Consumer : Bicycle - Mark Twain said it right.