Cannot seem to get RegEdit or MsConfig to Run 1

[oZpapafox]

Hi Guys

Anyone know how to solve this problem I am having with not being able to run either Regedit/Regedt32 or MSConfig for Windows XP PRO on one particular laptop? There is activity after I type "MSConfig" in the RUN field but then nothing else happens and with Regedit, whenever I type either Regedit or Regedt32 in Command prompt, the Registry Editor displays the registry for a few seconds and then shuts itself down!!

 

[bcastner]

I would suspect a virus, assuming there are no Group Policy restrictions in place.

Do two online virus scans (I would use Trend Micro and Panda) from smah's FAQ faq760-3862

Remember that you can rename a copy of regedit.exe to regedit.com and use that.

 

[oZpapafox]

bcastner, I have already tried the online scans with Trendmicro and found no viruses!
And also renamed both Regedit & Regedt32 to extension of .COM and tried running them to no avail! The Registry Editor starts up and then shut downs within a few seconds!!!

 

[bcastner]

1. Safe Mode. You have to do this in Safe Mode.
And you have to run the program from a command line, not the Start, Run feature. The virus affects the %windir% value so you need to create a CMD session in Safe Mode.

Try this in Safe Mode:

Click Start, Run and enter CMD

Then copy and paste the following commands into the Command Prompt window.

COPY %WINDIR%\System32\Taskmgr.exe %WINDIR%\System32\Taskmgr1.exe
COPY %WINDIR%\REGEDIT.EXE %WINDIR%\REGEDIT.COM
COPY %WINDIR%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\MSCONFIG.EXE
%WINDIR%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\MSCONFIG1.EXE

Then you can use the new file names to get into these utilities to use them to help your troubleshooting.


2. Additional details:

Look at Larry Samuals reply (#15) in this thread:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=...=eq5km3lfDHA.1832@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl#link11

 

[oZpapafox]

Thanks bcastner, solution provided did work finally. Now everything back to normal.