Registry First Aid Questions

[jdhurst]

A user posted some questions in my PM. I thought the questions were very well put and useful, so I decided to post them here as well (without in any way identifying the person).

1. I have been having some technical problems with the newly launched 'XYZ' software, and I have been instructed by their technical support personnel to remove all traces and to re-install the software. Firstly, I did a Add/Remove to remove the program; Secondly, I used the 'XYZ' utility to wipe out all instances of 'XYZ'; and Thirdly, I ran RFA to remove invalid entries of 'XYZ' from the system registry. After all this, I notice that ... there are several entries of 'XYZ' still listed under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. I also did a search for 'XYZ' in RFA and found them there, but unable to delete! Are these safe to delete?

My Response: I have always been able to delete suggested entries in RFA, so if it is telling you that an entry cannot be deleted, I would be very reluctant to delete it manually. If 'XYZ' is still giving problems, perhaps the 'XYZ' knowledge base would tell you what keys to remove and then do that without RFA.

2. Where can I get more information on all “caution” (yellow mark) and “extreme caution” (red mark) entries? Is there a way to make an informed decision about which entry is obsolete/invalid and safe to delete and which are not? Is it generally safe to delete all the entries with a green mark that RFA finds? Is there anything that I need to watch out for? Is there a RFA forum and/or discussion group? I would really appreciate some help here as I am newbie and a little confused at this time.

My Response: I read the screen by item, because for each item (green, yellow or red) it tells you what action it will take (change the entry, delete the entry, or take no action). I mark all green entries for action, I mark yellow entries where it says it is safe to delete or change, and I do not mark red entries. Then I run Fix It. I note the newest version now has a dialogue box that suggests everyone proceed with green items and advanced users review the yellow entries. If you are new, consider running the first time just the green items, let your computer run for a couple of days and make sure all is well, then come back and re-run RFA and review the yellow items.

3. I have 18 items in “Auto Run Programs” all marked in yellow with one entry in red and one in green. The list contains basically all the programs that I have checked in “Startup” in System Configuration Utility. I presume, as these entries need to be left unchanged, I need to highlight all these entries and move them to the “Excluded List”. Am I right? Do I move them to the “Excluded Registry Strings” section or to the “Excluded Registry Keys” section?

My response: If you want to exclude an entry from action, you can put it in the excluded list. I just don't bother to do anything with them.

4. Under “Unused Software”, I have an entry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\'ABC', Inc. with a green checked mark. Can I safely delete this entry? The Correction says “delete the obsolete entry”

My response: It would seem so. I generally delete such entries.

5. Under “Invalid Application Paths”, I have the following entry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\iPass Connect – with a green checked mark. It says that the “Application does not have executable file “iPass Connect” at C:\Program Files\iPass”. The Correction says C:\Program Files\iPass

What action should I take for such entries? The programs iPass is one that I use in my laptop.

My Response: Generally I allow RFA to take the action it suggests. You could do these one at a time. For example, correct the iPass entry, exit RFA, and see if iPass functions correctly. I use iPass as well and don't recall a correction by RFA for iPass or a problem with iPass.


6. Under “Invalid File Associations”, I have the following entry(s):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\abcde – with a green checked mark. It says “The file type identifier “abcde” does not exist, this value is usable”. The Correction says “delete the entry”

In addition to the above, I also have a list of 106 items under “Invalid Paths” with unchecked yellow triangle red circle marks. I feel that if I can tackle the one above in the first step, I would have a little more experience to tackle the remaining ones in the second step.

My Response: Same as 5 - I generally allow RFA to take the action it suggests.

I *cannot* assure anyone of any specific results. I have the same questions myself, and I take it slowly as I have outlined above. Delete easy, safe green entries, exit RFA, and run your computer for a few days. Then try again, and delete yellow marks that appear safe, and check the operation of the computer.

Making changes in the Registry is inherently dangerous, and you should (1) make a registry backup with Registry First Aid; (2) know where RFA puts its backups when you make corrections (so that you can restore the entries); and (3) make sure important data is backed up so that you may rebuild your system if things go wrong.

I have not had a major problem with RFA, but I always make sure I back up my data before making any major changes with RFA.

I hope this post helps people who are using Registry First Aid and who are new to it.
... JD Hurst

[GomJabbar]

I use Norton WinDoctor because that is what I have. I bought Norton SystemWorks a couple of years ago, and when the AntiVirus component expired, I uninstalled that. However it seemed like I might as well keep some of the Norton Utilities that come with SystemWorks.

When I ran WinDoctor (a program like Registry First Aid), I received some proplem messages like those above regarding Microsoft.NET. Several of these messages refer to a file named msvcr80.dll. After doing some searching on this, it appears that you should not attempt to repair these .NET problem messages. Instead tell WinDoctor to ignore them in the future. I tell WinDoctor to ignore all .NET problems it finds to be on the safe side.

msvcr80.dll is missing in the new NET 2.0

Hello everyone,

My name's Martyn Lovell, and I'm the development lead of the team that produces msvcr80.dll [The Visual C++ Libraries team]. This thread contains a number of innaccuracies that I'd like to correct.

First, Norton WinDoctor is wrong. It incorrectly reports that msvcr80 is missing when in fact it is correctly installed in the WinSxS directly in the windows. folder. If you own WinDoctor, you should report this bug to them so that they get it fixed.

Second, this website (http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-f ... ml?msvcr80) is definitely not the right place to get msvcr80.dll. You should get your copy of msvcr80.dll from the same place that you got the application that uses it. msvcr80.dll is distributed with applications.

Third, that website actually has a beta 2 copy of msvcr80.dll, which won't work for the released versions of the .NET runtime and may cause problems if used. If you have this copy on your system, you should remove it.

Fourth, you should not put msvcr80.dll in Anyway, I downloaded the file and put it in C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727. The DLL does not belong in there, and may cause problems if used from that location.

Please feel free to contact me directly if you have more questions, as I don't read this forum regularly.

Martyn Lovell
Development Lead
Visual C++ Libraries
martynl RemoveThis @microsoft.com

Error: " . . . Cannot access necessary file, msvcr80.dll..." when running One Button Checkup or WinDoctor

To prevent these messages from appearing, tell One Button Checkup or WinDoctor to ignore the errors. If you tell One Button Checkup or WinDoctor to fix the errors, the messages will reappear the next time that you scan the computer.

[ranjit]

Hi JDHurst,

Thank you for your email, and for taking the time to post my "Registry First Aid" (RFA) questions in this forum.

For the interest of other RFA users, I am appending my "orginal" questions that I had sent privately to JDHurst. The questions are as follows:

1. I have been having some technical problems with the newly launched Nero Reloaded CD-Burning (version 7.5.1.1) software, and I have been instructed by their technical support personnel to remove all traces and to re-install the software. Firstly, I did a Add/Remove to remove the program; Secondly, I used a Nero CleanTool utility to wipe out all instances of Nero; and Thirdly, I ran RFA to remove invalid entries of Nero from the system registry. After all this, I notice that although there are no Nero/Ahead entries under HKEY_CURRENT_USER  SOFTWARE, there are several entries of Nero still listed under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. I also did a search for “Nero” in RFA and found them there, but unable to delete! Are these safe to delete?
2. Where can I get more information on all “caution” (yellow mark) and “extreme caution” (red mark) entries? Is there a way to make an informed decision about which entry is obsolete/invalid and safe to delete and which are not? Is it generally safe to delete all the entries with a green mark that RFA finds? Is there anything that I need to watch out for? Is there a RFA forum and/or discussion group? I would really appreciate some help here as I am newbie and a little confused at this time.
3. I have 18 items in “Auto Run Programs” all marked in yellow with one entry in red and one in green. The list contains basically all the programs that I have checked in “Startup” in System Configuration Utility. I presume, as these entries need to be left unchanged, I need to highlight all these entries and move them to the “Excluded List”. Am I right? Do I move them to the “Excluded Registry Strings” section or to the “Excluded Registry Keys” section?
4. Under “Unused Software”, I have an entry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Symbol Technologies, Inc. with a green checked mark. Can I safely delete this entry? The Correction says “delete the obsolete entry”
5. Under “Invalid Application Paths”, I have the following entries:
a) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\iPass Connect – with a green checked mark. It says that the “Application does not have executable file “iPass Connect” at C:\Program Files\iPass”. The Correction says C:\Program Files\iPass
b) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\MsoHtmEd.exe – with a green checked mark. It says that the “Required value is empty: “(Default)”. The Correction says C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office 10\MSOHTMED.EXE
c) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\table30.exe – with a unchecked yellow triangle mark. It says that the “Required value is empty: “(Default)”. The Correction says “Delete the entry (no found corrections)
d) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\TP4EX – with a green checked mark. It says that the “Application does not have executable file “TP4EX” at C:\IBM TOOLS\drivers\”. The Correction says C:\IBMTOOLS\drivers\

What action should I take for the above entries? The programs iPass and TP4EX are ones that I use in my laptop. Please advice.

6. Under “Invalid File Associations”, I have the following entries:
a) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\fwUI.VarBstrCol\CurVer – with a green checked mark. It says “The file type identifier “fwUI.VarBstrCol.1” does not exist, this value is usable”. The Correction says “delete the entry”
b) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\MAPI.Session\CLSID\CurVer – with a unchecked yellow triangle mark. It says “Key “CurVer” seems to be not used” The Correction says “delete the entry”
c) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\ SYMUIAX2.SymUIAxCtrl.1\Insertable – with a green checked mark. It says “Value “(Default)” seems to be not used. The Correction says “delete the entry

In addition to the above, I also have a list of 106 items under “Invalid Paths” with unchecked yellow triangle red circle marks. I feel that if I can tackle the one above in the first step, I would have a little more experience to tackle the remaining ones in the second step.

I hope that users of this software will share their experience so that we can all benefit from the answers.

Take care and best regards,
Ranjit