Sorry to read of your problems..
* General advice for others reading this thread.....
Always make sure you have
1.a current System Restore point created.
2.a recent "Back up" of your computer- preferably to an external HD.
* If you ever think your Registry needs to be cleaned, repaired, boosted, tuned-up, cured, tweaked, fixed, or optimized (it doesn't),
In other words, injudicious use of "Registry cleaners" can & does cause problems.
I would agree completely, if the word cleaned was removed. CCleaner has helped me several times by cleaning my registry. I'll give you an example. ATI's drivers were less than stellar at cleaning up after an uninstall, and would often prevent me from reinstalling the newer, updated drivers. Whenever I would encounter this, I would run CCleaner on the registry, and then try the drivers again. Each time, they'd install perfectly.
I really appreciate everyone's help and I hate to appear to poo poo it but everyting in the regback folder is dated the same date and I don't think it is long enough ago. Sytem restore has some restore points that may well be old enough but it won't work.
I am starting to think that Windows didn't install properly in the first place because it would deny me access to folders such as 'my documents' and 'windows' even though I am the only user. This is why I 're-owned' the entire C drive as suggested on this forum.
Quite separately I noticed one day that many of my icons were wrong. I tried rebuilding the icon cache without success but didn't worry too much untill I realised I could not re-install or uninstall many of my programs. This is when I learned (from this forum also) that Ccleaner may have deleted the 'installer' folder which was indeed missing.
I guess it may well be that the 're-owning' has stumped system restore. Oh poo.
If this is the case I see two options - live with it or fresh install (starts to pull out hair).
That's the sole reason I recommend CCleaner and no other app like it. It's virtually foolproof (tested on my father-in-law), and even gives you the chance to backup your registray (the changes, at least), so you can have a single double-click to roll back, should you need to.
CCleaner doesn't dig nearly as deep as some less-than-reputable cleaners do, so it is inherently safer to use.
CCleaner is good. It did not wreck his system. One wrecks ones own system. CC does not click the buttons on it's own. It gives you fair warning. When you click OK you roll 'em. I've wrecked a few instaalls myself. Never let it bother me too much because that is how you learn. Mistakes are the really good teachers...especially the really painful ones! Besides there is nothing like a fresh install. Lost data? Meh, six months later you go what lost data?
I for years used to use these registry cleaners one in particular was reg supreme for years but with Windows 7 have refrained from using anything of that nature, except which I now use on 4 systems is the Revo-uninstaller for removing entries left over from program installs and to date (knock on wood) have never had an issue with the registry entries it suggests to remove after removing a program. I always look at the entries and make sure they are the ones I am susre are related to the removal and like i say I have had no issues to this day. Back up and restore points are always an also good practice for having something to fall back on in the event of a screw up . Tried Ccleaner just to see how it worked because it was on a clients system installed by them and did not like the interface and what it removed or could remove and cause problems not worth the gains in whatever performance in my book. Sorry I could not be of any help here. I always say a fresh install is a good learning experience.
Uuuuhh....
"After some advice searching I made sure I 'owned' my entire drive."
Whoever gave this advice was wrong, or maybe you misunderstood the scope of the advice...
If you in fact "Took Ownership" of your entire C drive, THAT is what has hosed your Windows install. A Repair Install /may/ fix it but likely you are looking at a complete reinstall.
You only "Take Ownership" of your own personal files on other drives or possibly in your Documents folder or that of another user if you want to take control of their files. NEVER of the entire Windows drive.
(P.s. you were denied access to "Documents and Settings" because it is not actually a folder but a link to your new Windows 7 User folder which you DO have access too. That folder link only exists for backwards compatibility for old and badly behaved XP programs. There was nothing wrong with the original install.)
So are we saying that 'taking ownership' deleted my 'installer' folder? How is this possible?
Anyway, I have repaired my system. I tried a repair install but despite taking over four hours (including uninstalling SP1, some drivers and some programs then reinstalling afterwards) it did not work.
I have now done a fresh install and I have no file access issues. As I suspected my original install must have been flawed which sent me down the ill advised (but very educational) path.
This is a great forum. Thanks to you all for your help. I will be adding to your reputations.
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