BAD PC problem HELP

I ran a registry cleaner and now I can't open any programs on my PC. I would go to system restore but that is also a program so I can't restore the system. What the bloody hell do I do now then?

Did you back up your registry before running the "cleaner?"When you say you cannot open any programs on your PC, what exactly do you mean? Are you just unable to find the icons to click on (missing Start menu, etc), or are you able to click on them but nothing happens? Do you get any error messages? Have you tried to boot to Safe Mode to see if you're able to access your programs there?Rule #1 of the Windows Registry: ALWAYS back up the registry before making any changes at all. If you backed it up (or the cleaner did it for you), you can easily restore the registry and all will be well. If not...messing with the registry, even using a program made for that purpose, is one of the quickest and easiest ways to screw up Windows badly enough to force a re-install.Do you have your WIndows XP install disk, or did your PC just come with a restore partition?With the install disk, you could try booting to the CD and you might be able to get Windows to either rebuild the registry hive or just re-install Windows on top of itself without wiping your programs or data, but honestly at that point you'd be better off just wiping and re-installing, because many things will likely not work even after the fix.

I think they usually suggest a registry backup first. Did you perhaps do one?I think you should be able to, (but I'm guessing) run programs that aren't "installed". That is just run an exe since they shouldn't have any reg entries. I don't know what ones would help. I'm afraid this isn't very helpful. But maybe it will attract the attention of someone who knows something.To save others this problem, what was the name of the cleaner?

Good advice to be had here. Go to the XP support section and post your woes there.They've a sticky up telling members not to recommend registry cleaners..Edited by iano, : No reason given.

if you have access to another machine with internet and CD burning facilities, download the Ultimate Boot CD disk image (.iso), burn it to a CD and boot your stricken machine from it.You'll find hundreds (literally) of utilities, including registry recovery ones that may be of help.If nothing else, use the Backup utility to save your data and settings, in case you have to rebuild your system.Good Luck!

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"We must respect the law, not let it blind us away from the basic principles of fairness, justice and freedom"

Hi Mike,Ravin gave good advice. You should be able to boot from your original disk and have xp rebuild the registry especially if you saved a copy first.When you get it fixed get a copy of Norton's Go Back. I found grandkids can mess up a computer in a hurry. Then I found Go Back. It works better than Windows Restore. When you first turn your computer on it goes to a screen where you can go back to a previous boot time and restore to that time. It has saved me a lot of re-installs.Lots of LuckGod Bless,

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"John 5:39 (KJS) Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

I'd try booting to the safe mode and from the safe mode see if you can access the restore program?

Go-back is good, when it works. I dont know about current versions, but 7 years ago or so it used to occasionally corrupt itself and make the computer unbootable with no way to use the restore either.Personally, I don't trust any consumer Norton products. Their enterprise antivirus is decent, but the consumer product line has always disappointed me.

Thanks guys. Sorry I dissappeared, as I lost internet for five hours last night and had to go to bed.Basically it all started yesterday when I installed the web and windows service pack 2, and my web was very slow, like it was forever loading something. So I checked out these registry cleaners, (a number of them because lots pretended to be free and then wouldn't actually do a clean up job for free.)So in the end I maged to uninstall Xp pack 2 after trying to find a way to get it to run. *yawn*I am still thankful for the help everyone has shown, unfortunately all that stuff sounded French to me. I'm one of those drivers who gets in the car and drives, I don't know how it drives. LOLMy web is still slow, and pauses and sounds buzy. This post to you has taken some time itself as my web page freezes for about 3 minutes at times. Although my programs are now working, now I went back to old xp. If it's not broke don't fix it I guess.Edited by mike the wiz, : No reason given.

Hi Mike,You could give the following simple procedure a try.XP has a handy facility whereby (in effect) regular snapshots are taken of key computer settings (such a your registry file). These are stored as "restore points". The idea is that if you get into difficulties (as you seem to have done) then you can always return your computer to the state it was in before you started spannering on it - simply by restoring it to the state it was in at some past dateTo do this just follow the following instructions (I'm assuming your displaying XP in normal mode and not classic mode)Click on 'Start'Pick "Control panel" from the pop up menuPick "Performance and maintenance" from the list of optionsUp near the top left of the screen under the title "See also" is the option "system restore". Click on to open this utility. You can read as you go to understand what's happening.On the righthand side of this new window will be a number of options:- restore my computer to an earlier time
- create a restore point
- undo my last restoration (this option will only appear in the case that you've restored before - which you probably haven't)If the "restore my computer to an earlier time" option is ticked then click 'next'. Otherwise highlight this option and click 'next'A calender will appear showing bolded dates for those times when restore points have been made by your pc. Click on so as to hightlight the first bolded date that lies before the day you began messing with your pc. Click next.The next screen to open will give you some information about what's going on. Click next and your PC will go through the process of restoring key files to that restore point condition. It might take a minute or two, then it will shut down and restart by itself.On restart a screen will advise you what has happened. Exit from this and see if the problem has gone. If not you can try another restore point from before the time you were fiddling with the pc.Final note: if you've recently installed any software aside from XP sp2 or the registry cleaner then don't pick a restore point from before the time of that installation - otherwise any registry changes enabled by that installation will be lost and the software likely won't function.After that you can give SP2 another go (if not able to upgrade directly to SP3)God bless!
Edited by iano, : No reason given.Edited by iano, : No reason given.

The difficulties you're having are so severe that it almost seems like a hardware/software incompatibility issue. Was Windows/XP the original operating system installed on your PC? If not you might want to check if your PC is compatible with XP.--Percy

Thanks Iano, I have infact botched system restore in my attempts to run it, and now I have lost the bugger. (As I couldn't open programs previously, and that was a program. :rolleyesIt got worse though boys, my computer went into an infinitely-buzy mode, whereby I couldn't open anything. After 4 and a half hours of restarting I have now been able to get back on it by starting it in the account nobody uses.I had a FAT system turned to NTFS or some such thing, Percy.One thing is clear - everytime I attempt to run or do anything major chaos follows.I reckon it has about a thousand viruses or something. Lol.

I actually asked whether your computer had Windows/XP on it when it was new, but this information may answer the question anyway. A FAT file system is not used by Windows/XP. It was used up through all Windows predecessors to Windows/XP, but not before. If you once had a FAT file system on your computer, then it was not a Windows/XP operating system.This means that your computer may not be compatible with Windows/XP. You can often check with the manufacturer concerning Windows/XP compatibility. If you know what version of Windows was originally on your computer then returning to that version may fix many of your problems.--Percy

Yes, FAT means I ran the older versions, as I knew you would conclude.It was windows 98 I used to run. I can't remember why I changed over, but I seem to recall some sort of major error, but it was many years back.Thanks for the info, I think I'll look into it a bit when I have time.

I think, if nothing else, your computer is just too slow and with two little memory for XP.