Regedit wont run, and grant admin full control context menu wont work

[J.R.]

Are you having any other problems with your computer besides regedit?

This is a head stumper. If there's no virus, etc, and safe mode don't work, SFC don't work, about the only thing I could suggest would be a new install. But there's something preventing regedit from running. SFC should fix that problem.

 

[ElliottGenocide]

This as of now is the only problem I am having, and I can't do a fresh install because I didnt buy a copy of windows, this is the one that came installed.

 

[Thorsen]

If you got the computer without an Install disc, then there is a good chance it has a repair partition.

You can try following this tutorial to repair: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/668-system-recovery-options.html

 

[ElliottGenocide]

I've already tried 4 of the 5 options listed in that post, and I'm not doing System Image Recovery as that sounds like more trouble than I feel like dealing with.

 

[legacy7955]

@Elliott:

You said you used the regedit just a short time ago. What was it that you changed?

Also you could just try a system restore. Sometimes the unexpected will work, this might be one of those cases. Go back to a date at least a couple of days before you used the registry editor to change the registry.

Get back to us.

 

[ElliottGenocide]

Well; the idiot that I am, I cleaned my registry and forgot to take off system restore points, so there is none. And I believe I used it to disable the default windows background on the logon screen, here is the post from which the main problem generated from:

http://www.sevenforums.com/software...ntrol-context-menu-wont-work.html#post1560862

The problem I am having now is not the same as the one mentioned in that post, it is two separate incidents.

 

[legacy7955]

@Elliott:

Wow that is too bad about the missing restore points. Having those will usually get you out of trouble 99% of the time. Sorry to hear you deleted them. For other folks out there ALWAYS leave a few restore points available, ESPECIALLY after you make any changes to the system! This is extremely important and Elliot's experience here is a good example of why they need to be retained.

This is another good reason to stay away from registry cleaners.

I'm generally a novice with Win 7 but I have pretty good knowledge of Win XP, so you're going to have to seek the assistance of other gurus...

From what I am thinking you will need to probably do a system repair. I know you don't want to hear that but it is likely.

I hope one of the other gurus can give you an easy out here. Good luck and keep us updated.

B.

 

[rraod]

Now I am thinking of getting away from the idea of a regedit.exe being corrupted. How about the registry hives corruption? Will the corrupted hives prevent regedit from working properly? This needs to be answered by an expert.

There is one more method which will restore the registry with the original backed up values. I give below the details below.

Locked out of Windows because of a Corrupt Registry?

This page explains the location of the registry backup on the system and how to restore it.

The active registry values are stored in C:\Windows\system32\config
The backed up registry values are stored in C:\Windows\system32\config\Regback
The registry hives are System, Default, SAM, and Security.

Reboot the system and press F8 to get advanced boot options. Select the Repair option. Login as administrator and in the next screen select Command Prompt and navigate to C:\Windows\system32\config

CD C:\Windows\system32\config

do a dir command to view the files

Now rename the above System, Default, SAM, and Security files into System.sav, Default.sav, SAM.sav adn Security.sav
with the REN command

ex: Ren Software Software.sav

Now change to the Regback folder by the command

CD Regback

Copy the backuped System, Default, SAM, and Security files from Regback folder to

C:\Windows\system32\config folder with the commands

copy Sysem C:\Windows\system32\config
copy Default C:\Windows\system32\config
copy SAM C:\Windows\system32\config
copy Security C:\Windows\system32\config

I suggest replacing the hives with backup hives one by one (keeping the Software hive till end) and check by rebooting the system normally.

In this way if something goes wrong, we can always return the saved value of that particular hive and continue with other hives.

This process being complicated, one has to do it carefully step by step and check the system.

I have done this procedure previously for a windows XP installation using Sysinternals ERD Commander CD and was successful in bringing back the system to normal operation.

The only problem one may face is that with the Software hive replacement, the installed applications may not work properly and may need to be reinstalled.

Eventhough this process works, Please do this procedure at your own risk.

 

[ElliottGenocide]

I appreciate your suggestion, I'm gonna' look into it now. Can you tell me if my particular error message is something that happens when this problem occurs?


EDIT: I don't have a windows CD, I thought I mentioned that, unless it was in my other post.

 

[rraod]

I don't know the reason for the error message.

The method I have explained is used only when the registry is corrupted and needs to be replaced with an earlier good copy.

For the procedure I have explained in my earlier post, you don't need a Windows CD/DVD.