help with vista home prem...

taz69w

Member
came across this site on accident while looking for some answers, and it may be a life saver. i have a toshiba satellite a215 laptop, that came with vista home premium. i had a power jack fail a while back, and sent it back for repair, got it back with a clean install on my hd...i was upset. lost everything. anyway, got it back, started putting some of my work on it, and got as far as downloading service pack 1. the next day while at work, my 10 year old said that it quit responding, so she powered it down via the power button. upon start up, i got the bsod with error message stop:c0000218 {registry file failure}
the registry cannot load the hive (file):
\system root\system32\config\components
or its log or alternate.
it is corrupt, absent, or not writable

then proceeded through the crash dump process...

i downloaded the vista 32 bit recovery disk (not sure if this one was correct, or if i should have downloaded the 64 bit version), and burned it with all the programs you instructed on other posts, and whalla.... ran the disc through my comp, and everything checked out good, exept for my registry..... says it is corrupt. ran the program a few times, same prob, same blue screen. tried the system restore in the advanced options, says i didnt have a restore point....

so here is my question. should i try the 64 bit recov. disk? did toshiba have a hidden recovery partition??? or is there any other way to fix the registry? trying to avoid having to send this back to the goon squad at rac since it is still under warrenty. any help would be appreciated. thanks -tony (taz)
 
Hi Tony, welcome to NST.
If the 32bit version worked, the 64bit won't. You need the same type as your installed OS.
The recovery CD only allows you to fix a broken boot process (not your problem), access system restore,(but you have no usable SR point) or issue command prompts.
Try using F8 as you power on to access the Toshiba partition.
 
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i will give it a whirl... thanks bro. -taz

Addendum:

is there by chance an easy way to re-load or repair the hive file? this is a laptop, sometimes i wish it was a tower..lol
 
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I would first try last known good configuration from the Advanced boot menu. F8 - that Terry mentioned.

If no joy, you could replace the Registry hives from the backup.

It can be done from command prompt - but much easier using the File Transfer Wizard on the Paragon Free Rescue kit cd.

Free data recovery: Paragon Rescue Kit Express - Overview

It burns itself to cd ( do not format the cd).

Boot the Paragon cd, select Normal Mode. Next screen , select File Transfer wizard.

In \Windows\System32\config\ you will see these files with no extension:

Components
Default
Sam
Security
Software
System

Replace those with the files of the same name from:

\Windows\System32\config\RegBack


Should work fine. You may find you need to reinstall a program or maybe get some Windows updates again - depends how recent the backups in the Regback folder are.


Worth a try - the other alternative is a reinstall, or reset to factory condition.
 
tried the f8 "last known..." several times with no avail.... goes back to the same prob with the hive file. i will definantly try the program mentioned above. i have access to a vista dvd, as long as i can still make out my product key on the back of this thing, and if all else fails, how do i reset to factory condition? should i install ubuntu 9.10 and transfer my personal files to my external first? (i have read a couple articles on this program, just not too familiar with it. i would like to thank the both of you for your patience and help thus far.... i am sure you will be hearing from me again...lol thanks -taz
 
Hi taz,

You won't need Ubuntu.

You can use Paragon File Transfer Wizard to transfer personal files off, as well as using it to copy the hives from Regback to config, as described above.

FTW-2009-11-12_020142.jpg


It should work.

Though you shouldn't need it, reset to factory condition just means use the manufacturer supplied disc/recovery partition to replace the o/s on the HD exactly as when you received it.

Some give the option to save existing files into a folder on the HD at the same time - if there is space.
 
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I think your best bet is to copy off everything you desperately need first - browse to it in Paragon Rt pane ( dble click folders to open -i f needed). Click an item to highlight and then use the Arrow to place in the clipboard.

When you have everything in there, click Next and select where to copy the clipboard contents to.


Then copy the hives from Regback to the clip board - click next , browse to config - rt click and delete the hives there, then copy in the ones from the clipboard.

( Note you can't paste onto a folder - you have to dble click to open the folder first - then copy the contents of the clipboard into the folder ).

Close the file transfer wizard, remove the cd, and select reboot.

If the Regback copies are sound - you will boot into windows just fine.
 
cool, i am downloading paragon as we speak, to a folder on my desktop. once it loads, i will burn it to a cd. i will let you know how the outcome is. thanks for all the help.
 
ok, heres the scoop... downloaded paragon on the other com, and burned it. moved most of my personal files to an external, wich took some time. the program seemed slow at times and had a tendency to hand up. some files would give me and error and cant move them, but nothing i cant replace. i followed all the steps as instructed, with no hassel at all, exept for one problem. i got one error stating "cannot read the file /windows/system32/congig/regback/software. i already deleted the /windows/system32/config/software file as instructed. what are my options? on my reg back, i have the following extensions... software, software.log1, software.log2, and software.old. in the config folder, i have the .log, .log1, .log2, and .save software extensions. can i use one of these? can i copy the software file from my other vista comp (has alot more software icons) or am i at a standstill? so far all info has been right to par, so thanks for all help recieved so far. -taz

Addendum:

ok, quick update, the origional error "\system root\system32\config\components" is now "\system root\system32\config\software" i wish i would have thought about it sooner, but i could have used this program to fix just the componants file. now, can i retreve the software file, or tranfer the file off of my other laptop, although i have some different programs added to it?
 
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Hi,

It is recommended to replace all the Hives - not just one.

You are going to need to use the SOFTWARE.OLD. from regback.

Put a copy of it in config.

Then you need to rename it to SOFTWARE. [REN [drive:][path]filename1 filename2]

To do that , boot dvd or recovery disc to system recovery options cmd prompt, and type ( assuming it is C drive )

ren c:\Windows\System32\config\SOFTWARE.OLD SOFTWARE
 
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fancy meeting you here...lol quick question, when i click on a file, i get the option to rename, can i move the .old file to the location, highlight it, and use the rename option button?
 
Yes, didn't realise you could do that with Paragon - maybe I forgot. LOL.

EDIT:

the program seemed slow at times and had a tendency to hand up. some files would give me and error and cant move them
That may indicate a problem with the filesystem. Paragon should be able to move everything.

If you boot back back - first thing is run checkdisk.

If you still can't boot into Windows - boot the recovery cd to cmd prompt and run checkdisk from there.


Yes just SOFTWARE no extension, exactly like the original hive name.
 
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thats cool, next question, do i rename it to software (without the .extension)? like the origional file name that i lost?
 
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it popped up after the fact...sorry. went through the routine and back to the origional error... gonna repeat the steps tonight and see what happens. thanks for your time and patience...lol -taz
 
ok, here's the scoop..this became a round and round cycle, with the file, so i pretty much figured that part of my system had a problem.... i did however, figure out how to acces my factory installed back up to reset back to the origional set up, so i went ahead and did it. i am gonna set up my system to create a restore point on a routine basis, which will help the repair process if (and when...lol) i encounter this error again. i want to personaly say thanks to all involved in my "crash course" education in vista. i definantly gained some valuable knowlege, and would have never made it this far with out you. glad i stumbled across this site when i did. now. next question..lol i have a neet little icon for a "recovery disc creator". is this basicly the same disc that i made here, or is it something more for my toshiba laptop? thanks again. taz
 
Hi Taz,

At least you managed to use File Transfer Wizard to get the important stuff.

The recovery Disc creator will probably give you the same as you have in the recovery partition - this time on cd/dvd. It is worth doing just in case.

You can use the disc to restore to factory condition if you can't use the recovery partition.

I strongly advise using a disk imaging program to make your own image backups every now and then.

The idea is you can restore that - and be back to exactly the same position as when you made the image. Much better than going all the way back to factory condition.

You can also restore individual files from the backup image, if you like.

There is an excellent Free one here:

Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Free Edition

How to Create an Image with Paragon B&R 10

How to Restore Data with Paragon B&R 10


http://www.paragon-software.com/exp...erver/selective_restore/selective_restore.swf
 
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