Take ownership help please to reverse this

[artinusa]

I have been very silly and used info from the web to solve an installing )Office 2013 which had a 1603 error How can I reverse this my machine will not load now,,even in safe mode..help takeown /f C:\Windows cacls C:\Windows /G administrators:F all permission seem to be screwed up HELP please

 

[essenbe]

I don't know if this will work, but see option 2 in this tutorial. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/700-system-restore.html

 

[artinusa]

essenbe Thanks for the reply..i am on my 6th system restore each different..not even sure if a restore would include the registry of the day created

 

[essenbe]

You will have to pick a restore point to before you took ownership.

 

[essenbe]

Read these tutorials and see if there is some information that will help you.
TrustedInstaller - Restore as Owner
Read the tip at the bottom of the page
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1911-take-ownership-shortcut.html

 

[artinusa]

Sadly I think I have taken ownership 0f the C;drive..can it be undone,,

 

[essenbe]

Truthfully, I don't know if you can't boot into Windows at all. If you can maybe the first Tutorial I linked to will do it. If not you could try a Repair Install. If that does not work, you may need to clean install. I am not familar with your computer brand, but most have a tools partition to return it to factory state, although most people prefer the clean install to rid themselves of the factory bloatware. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html
If you need to get your personal data off first, which I recommend no matter which method you use, you will need an external hard drive or some place to put them and http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/93347-copy-paste-windows-recovery-console.html

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

I have asked our resident expert to take a look. He may have some ideas I don't know.

 

[gregrocker]

Have you tried booting into the Win7 DVD or System Repair Disk to run Startup Repair a few times? This should automate all of the fixes including System Restore which is also best run from the disk since OS files may have been corrupted.

Next try SFC /SCANNOW Run in Command Prompt at Boot

Next try Built-in Administrator - Enable from WinRE - Windows 7 Forums to see if it will boot.

If not everything else that can be done is in Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start
leading up to rescuiing your files if necessary to run factory Recovery or get a perfect Clean Reinstall
which after setup you can image to use in place of future reinstalls.

 

[essenbe]

You can get to a command prompt from the installation DVD. There are 2 ways.
1. Boot from the DVD, on the first window, do not select your language, hold down shift and press F10, it will bring up a command prompt window.
2. On either the 2nd or third screen when booting from the DVD, in the bottom left it says repair my computer. you can click there and it will do startup repair, which I would try. or click through to other options and one will be a command prompt.
From what little I know about the registry, importing a clean registry will not fix your problem. You have software installed which write registry keys, and they will not be changed. Merging a new registry will only change the keys included on the DVD and not all of the ones you have changed. You would have needed to do a registry backup before you took ownership.
Your best bet would be to do a system restore from the DVD or try the startup repair from the DVD.

Personally, if it were me, I would do the startup repair and system restore from the dvd. If those did not work I would try a repair install. If that didn't work, do a clean install. The time you have already spent, you could have done the clean install and have a working computer. Use the Hirens to get your personal files out first and try the repair from the installation DVD. If you do the registry change, you will only change the keys that are on the DVD. Any keys or values that were changed will not be affected. What I honestly believe is that if you manage to fix it to where you can boot, you will still have a problem install. You can spend more time trying to fix something than it would take to do a clean install and be done with it and have a perfect install. That's my personal opinion based on numerous hours trying to fix something I have messed up. Don't feel bad, most of us have done the same type stuff and worse. But, we learned a lot about things from the experience. If the steps Greg linked to on troubleshooting Windows 7 don't work, a clean install is your only option, I believe.

EDIT: I am far from an expert on Windows registry. I am only telling you my opinions.

 

[artinusa]

I very much appreciate your input,,I decided as a 'last chance' to use ans image file I created a year ago..its now 'copying to c: drive .I hope..? looks like a big job as it is 278GB I this fails I will put on windows 8 I have many older programs disk so I can reinstall..if they will that is.. I did try as you suggested a repair many times before and after your input..but as you pointed out this may not change reg keys..I often wondered about system restore if this held the reg files.?

 

[essenbe]

My understanding is it does. But, it is better doing it from thr DVD as it has uncorrupted files that system restore on the OS may not have. You sound like you know more about the OS and registry than me. But, I have spent many hours trying to fix problems in quite a few ways. I have had limited success on a few occasions. But, I can honestly say that every time I have messed up system files or registry files, I have wished I had just done a clean install, which I usually ended up doing anyway.

 

[artinusa]

I now know why a clean install is best..smile I am 50% thro image backup..a year old but just maybe I can get back into my computer..time will tell and once more thanks for the shoulder..

 

[gregrocker]

Did you copy out your files as you were advised you could do several times in this thread by several different methods?

How many times did you run Startup Repair to see if it could find an fix issues?

Did you try System Restore, even from the DVD System Recovery Options.

You were given many different options - possibly every option there is - but I see no reports back that you tried any of them before you reimaged over the damaged install.

There were several dozen steps to try in the tutorials but instead of reporting back you'd tried any of them you replied with pie-in-the-sky about importing a new registry which wasn't even suggested.

 

[artinusa]

yes I did and have reg and user backups. I did repair around 7 time and kept getting 'repair' I Did a restore attempt about 8 times using different points..tried to use a backup but could not would not read file..so since I had nothing to lose I am doing a system image recovery/backup..hopefully I will be able to at least get imto my system and sort it out from inside.. I will never take advise again from the web without searching its source authority I need to thank you all for you help

 

[gregrocker]

OK, thanks for reassuring us that you'd tried all that we provided since looking back over the thread you were given everything that possibly can be done.

Hopefully you rescued your files since you saw them with XP explorer in Hirens and could have easily copied them out then, or using one of the 2-3 other ways you were given.

 

[artinusa]

yes I had spent some hours trying to sort this out losing valuable project time at my expense..I took both he Office 2013 and Windows 8 back to the store..they were very helpful....I need a system that works now..I had the same hassle WITH OFFICE 2010 not again I am saying to myself..but thanks for all your help fully recovered now and updating etc,,

 

[essenbe]

Great to know you have a productive computer now. I wish we could have helped you fix it, but things don't always work the way we plan. I'm glad it is working now.