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Started getting Registry Error message and Windows XP won't load: Trying to reinstall XP but Reg Error stops process

Anonymous
2011-11-12T22:43:23+00:00

I have a home built computer working great with Windows XP for about two years, but recently started getting a Registry Error blue screen which stops Windows XP from loading. 

In part, the following is displayed:

Registry Error

Technical Information: 

STOP:  0x00000051, (0x00000001, 0xE112E8c8, 0x005D4000)

I can get to BIOS screen and things are set as usual as far as I can tell.  I can get to the Advanced Screen by pressing F8 but no matter what I click on, such as start in "Safe Mode" or "last known good configuration" it always ends up at the blue screen with Registry Error.

I have the Windows XP disc and can get it to go through all the preloading stuff, but when you get to the screen to choose Repair or start new installation, no matter what I choose it always goes back to the Blue Screen and Registry Error.  Is there a way to fix the Registry Error so I can get Windows XP to load - from the disc or otherwise?  If the Registry Error can't be fixed, will wiping my hard drive clean help?  If so, how do I do that?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-11-18T00:29:46+00:00

    Grasping at straws, on the off-chance that your video driver is at fault here, on the Hirens Boot Disk, you can go to

       Programs -> Editors/Viewers -> Notepad++

    to start up a Text editor.  Once open, go to File -> Open and open the file "Boot.ini" that is located in the root directory of your boot drive.  Find the line under " [Operating Systems] and add the switches "/basevideo  /sos" (without quotes) to the end of the line.  Save the file (File -> Save) and try rebooting your machine.  Those switches should force your machine to boot to standard 640x480 VGA video independent of any driver that you have loaded.  If your machine comes up, you should reinstall the video driver for whatever video card that you have (visit your computer manufacturer's website).  If you do this, then you may need to re-edit the file back to the way it was before it will boot normally.

    More information on the Boot.ini file is here:

    "Available switch options for the Windows XP and the Windows Server 2003 Boot.ini files"

      < http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833721 >

    Hopefully, if nothing else, the /SOS switch will display which driver was last to load before the crash.

    My only other suggestion is to use Hirens to back up your data before reinstalling Windows.

    HTH,

      JW

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-11-15T02:33:50+00:00

    I went the Hirens Boot CD route and extracted the required file to a CD from another computer.  I then put the CD into the CD drive of the problem computer. Turning on the problem computer the screen went to the Bios screen as usual (yes, CD drive is first in boot order), then the screen went blank, as usual.  The CD drive whirred a little then stopped - the screen is remaining blank. 

    The difference is there is no blue screen with the Registry Error message like before, but nothing else comes up on the screen.  No options screen or anything.  

    Even when I don't use the Hiren's CD it still goes to a blank screen after the Bios screen. 

    Any ideas on what I should do next?

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-11-16T22:15:48+00:00

    Thanks. I really appreciate your help so far.  I used the "BurnToCD.cmd" and was able to get the Hiren's Boot CD to load up Mini XP. I did the Registry Restore Wizard as you said and let it do its thing. 

    Upon rebooting, things seemed to go better, but when the Windows XP screen came up and appeared ready to start loading, it all of a sudden went blue screen again.  This time though it does not say there is a registry error, but just that the system had to shut down to avoid damage.

    There are still STOP codes at the bottom of the blue screen, the first one I think is 0x0000007.

    I have the Windows XP CD, so I tried to use that to get to the Repair screen, which it did take me to.  I selected "R" and then it asked me which drive - in my case it is D:

    At the D:/WINDOWS prompt I ran chkdsk /r - it said it was analyzing and showed a running percentage of how much it was completing - it took over an hour -  then reported how much was checked, but did not say if any bad sectors or items were repaired or not.  I thought maybe all was well, but when I tried to reboot, it still flashes the Windows XP loading screen for about 2 seconds but then goes to blue screen.

    Anything other than chkdsk that I can run or anything else in the Hiren's MiniXP options that might help me?

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-11-15T05:55:33+00:00

    The symptoms indicate that your system does not recognize that there is a bootable CD is in the CD Drive.  It tries and thinks there is no bootable CD and then it rolls over to the hard drive.  I assume that you created the Hirens CD by extracting the .zip file and then double-clicking on "BurnToCD.cmd".

    Try the CD on another machine and see if another machine will boot to the CD.

    If it does, then it would seem that you have a problem with your CD Drive.

    HTH,

      JW

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-11-13T04:44:32+00:00

    You need to replace your registry with a backup copy contained in the System Restore repository.  Microsoft has a KB article on how to do this:

       "How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting"

      <http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545 >

    but it particularly risky and prone to failure (especially Part 1).

    My recommendation is to use another computer to create a free Hirens Boot CD which contains a utility which will do this for you:

      Hirens:  <http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/>

    Once you create the CD, Boot from it.  At first option screen, choose "Mini Windows XP".  When it boots, double-click on "HBCD Menu" then select  Programs -> Registry -> Registry Rescue Wizard

    It will ask you to locate your Windows folder (Usually C:\Windows) and then it will bring up a list of restore points.  Pick the one that is the latest dated before your problem and let the program do its thing.  When done simply shutdown, remove CD, and reboot.

    If it then boots, as a follow-up step you should do a System Restore from the same restore point to ensure the registry that you restored matches the rest of your system.

      "How to Restore Windows to a Previous State"

      <http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084 >

    A check disk operation would probably also be in order as most registry failures are due to disk corruption.

      "How to perform disk error checking in Windows XP"

      < http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265 >

    Use the /R or /F option.

    HTH,

      JW

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