Sudden crash, updated, now SOL

I'll do my best to keep this short, but you'll need the whole story...

Had numerous sudden crashes with no reboot to follow. Had to power down manually each time. Restart only gave a spinning fan, no OS. Unplugged everything from MOB, replugged, repeat to get Windows started.

Went thru the millions of threads on such problems (Kernel power event 41) and tried many things (within reason of course, no deleting or rewriting anything). Made sure all drivers and Win7 were updated (just in case). Updated everything from Windows website and all OEM sites. Ran memtest 86 (no problems), scandisk (no problem), and everything else in existence (clean boot, defrag, services.msc, msconfig, sleep / power options, remove all addon components, etc). Finally got a new PSU (just a hunch) and fixed the on/off problem.

Then purchased Uniblue Registry Booster and let it do its thing. Small handful of errors, but nothing too serious. (Note: most entries/errors here were related to "CLSID" and either "Inprocserver32" or "win32" missing files????) Fixed errors in less than five minutes, then defragged as recommended. I'm assuming (which I HATE to do) that this software did its job right, it is Windows Gold certified after all!!

Now nothing will run. Nothing. Every program (Kodak, Civ V, CuBase, or whatever) receives a "c05" exception with a runtime error, application error, or stack overflow. None of them produce an error log or event log. Threads say registry is problem so restored the registry to where it was - no difference. Uninstalled and reinstalled everything (programs, hardware, drivers) one at a time - no difference. No difference with just standard machine. No difference by rolling back machine to mfg, then rebuilding/reloading everything, AGAIN! No overclocking involved at all.

Been working on this for three weeks straight - and am absolutely sick and tired of it. Trying to give Win 7 a chance, but its failing miserably so far. Before I agree with everyone else and just go buy a Mac, thought I'd give you a try to see if I'm just overlooking something simple or logical since I haven't touched Windows since getting burned for alot of cash with all the XP snafu's!!

Your thoughts??? IS there a particular Win 7 update that I should / should not have installed? Is the Uniblue RegistryBooster a problem?

Please be specific and thorough (step-by-step) in your responses - I'm pretty handy with the computer, but I don't do well with programmer heiroglyphics/acronyms (again, many things have moved / changed since XP).

My rig -
Intel Celeron 1.6 420, 3 gb, ATI X1650, Corsair 600, Windows 7 Home Premium 64
Sorry no error, events, or dump logs that I can find.

You're help is greatly appreciated!!! slojo99

I don't know anyone besides their sales department who would seriously suggest a Registry Booster program. It is death to any OS especially Win7 which is already optimized as lean as an OS can be.

Back up your data by copying it out using Paragon Rescue CD if necessary, then wipe the HD of corruption and clean reinstall.

Follow these steps to get a purrfect reinstall then don't tweak anything further: re-install windows 7

gregrocker,

...funny you should ask where I got the idea of the "RegistryBooster" -

1. I got it from right here in Windows 7 forums! That's half the reason I posted this thread here. I suspect the RegistryBooster from the git go, but here is where I was informed it was OK to use and recommended as a "Microsoft Gold" application. Really!!

2. I'm sure "RegistryBooster" is just a clever name. It doesn't appear to do anything more than simply cleaning and defragging the registry, and only when I start it. I won't let it (or most programs) run on their own unless I'm 1000% confident in what its doing.

However, it IS the defragging part that gets me concerned. Registry is just too delicate to be defragging, but again, it was recommended here and Windows 7 is new to me. I'll try to find the thread that got me to that point, it was somewhere in the "Kernel event 41" or "stack overflow" threads. (I say "try" cuz I was only half exaggerating when I said I read a million threads!!)

One more thing - I looked again at the Window 7 updates that are on my machine. Seems there was quite a problem with the C++ updates (both 2005 and 2008). Many failed attempts, and I think it only finally worked when I received it from somewhere else (don't quote me, but I seem to remember it getting updated thru Steam when I downloaded Civ V. Could be wrong there).

Anyhow, any known problems with the C++ updates???

Thanks again for all your help. Any further suggestions are appreciated as well. slojo99

I've used Auslogics Disk and Registry free defraggers for years without any problem. As with CCleaner these are respected state-of the-art tools within the tech world.

Many Registry optimizing suites are crapware sales operations. I'm not sure about UniBlue as I believe they are a reputable company - others may know better.

Many of us were beta testers with CCleaner, Auslogics, Defraggler, etc and watched them perfected as the premiere genius apps in their class, so we tend to stick with the tried and true.

I would title a thread about the C++ Updates and post in the Updates forum where someone who knows for sure might see it.

Thanks again gregrocker. I clean installed, omitted the Registry software (gotta get my money back on that stuff!!), and reloaded everything again. So far, four hours with no crash or errors!! Too soon to get optimistic though. We'll see.

Glad it helped. Let us know how it goes.

Well, not exactly sure what "fixed " the problem, but it seems to be fine (for now). Rolled back the registry so Uniblue had no effect on the machine, then reinstalled whatever I wanted / needed. Had some problems with ATI Catalyst at first, but seems fine now.

Went all weekend with no crashes, but didn't have it running too long, and didn't do anything "stressful" to the machine.

Will be able to put it thru its paces this week, so we'll see how it holds up.

BTW - the recommendation for the Uniblue RegistryBooster came from the Windows7forum.com site, not this one. Sorry for the confusion.

One more Q - do you suggest a registry software for Win7, or is it best just to leave it alone?? I seen the ones you named, but I'm almost of the opinion not to bother with it. Your thoughts?

Thanks for your help gregrocker!

slojo99 (believing in Win 7 one day at a time...)