Common Registry Problems

If the Registry is severely damaged, access to hardware and software may be drastically limited, and the system may not even boot. Even in a case of a minor problem, an application may not work as it was designed, or may perform erratically.

The Registry is protected while it is running, so it is not possible to copy, delete, or change the contents, except through a "certified" program (installation programs, registry editing tools, and security changes through User Manager for Domains and the Explorer). Because of this protection, the Registry is quite secure--but it is not bulletproof. Problems can and do occur, and you need to be prepared to recognize them so you can fix them.

How to Recognize When You Have a Registry Problem:

• "My computer and Internet are very slow suddenly."
• "I can not remove these programs from my computer."
• "It worked yesterday, but it won't work today."
• "It worked until I added this software/hardware, and now I can't use it."
• "My system doesn't work the way it used to."
• "When I try to shut down the computer, it just keeps beeping and beeping."
• "My computer won't start up."
• "Eeeeeek! It's the dreaded Blue Screen of Death!"

The most common ways the Registry gets corrupted are:

• Applications and drivers are added to the system
• Hardware changes or upgradation
• Regular adding and removing programs
• Users make changes to the Registry

Program Errors

Adding and removing programs account for the majority of errors found in the Registry. Most users add between six and seven applications, and add or upgrade drivers, applications etc. four or five times per month. Then there are applications which are added to your computer without your information through the Internet. During initial installation and setup, the numbers are even greater.

Here are the most common reasons that applications cause problems with the Registry:

Poorly written application (bugs) - There are no applications without bugs or errors. In the best case, the errors that are there are minor, esoteric problems that you may never see, which were left alone because of time and money constraints. To a programmer, a problem may be minor, but it becomes a major problem to you if it crashes your system.

Driver incompatibility - The open architecture of the PC world creates significant risk because any type of eclectic combination of parts and pieces is possible. Testing all combinations and ensuring the compatibility of all the devices is impossible. The other challenge arises when the driver for wrong Operating System is used (like Windows 98 driver in Windows XP).

Incorrect entries added to the Registry by the application during installation - During installation, most applications use a file called SETUP.INF for detailed information about what disks are required, which directories should be created, where to copy files, and Registry entries that need to be made to make the application work correctly. If there is a mistake in the SETUP.INF file, the change will still be made, and there may be serious problems.

Incorrect associations set between applications and file types by an application - When an application is installed, default document types are recorded in the Registry. A user can then double-click to start the application and load the document. Many times, other applications use the same extension. For example, the last graphics program loaded will be the one launched when a TIF graphic is activated based on the settings in the Registry. Occasionally, completely different, non-compatible applications will use the same extensions on their document files, and the document-loading shortcut won't work.

Errors created during the uninstall process - Whether you remove applications through Add/Remove programs in the Control Panel, through a proprietary uninstall feature of the application, or through a third-party utility, you run a risk of damaging the Registry. Besides taking out the program, auxiliary, and data files, an uninstall routine may attempt to remove Registry entries as well. It may inadvertently remove required entries for other applications because it is nearly impossible for the system to know all the entries accessed by an application.

Errors in fonts - When the font ID in the Registry gets corrupted, you will see a different font than the one listed in the application. It can be annoying and may require you to remove some or all of your fonts and replace them. It mostly happens when user installs and removes fonts frequently.

Unfortunately, you may find out about these problems too late, after you have lost time, money, and/or data. Also, you are almost powerless to truly solve them, because someone else wrote the program, and most people do not have the expertise required to change the application itself. The best you can do as an administrator is to repair the Registry Using Registry Repair tools like Registry Defender.

System Problems

If the computer system itself has a problem, the Registry can become corrupted. Usually, these errors can be prevented with proper system care and management.

Virus - Viruses are an insidious attempt to affect our systems by changing the nature of files and in whole corrupting the registry.

Electrical surges, spikes, or brownouts - Nearly all power problems can be easily avoided with good surge protectors and UPS devices (uninterruptible power supplies).

Disk problems - Most of the time you will replace hard disks because of capacity limitations far sooner than you would because of hardware failure. If the whole hard drive fails, of course, you will have to restore your Registry from a backup. The other concern is the failure of individual sectors or clusters on the drive. Although it is highly unlikely with today's systems, a fault in the surface of the drive media may make parts of the disk unreadable, including those where the Registry files are located. Regular maintenance is critical, and a good backup is vital.

Easiest way to take care of errors would be to regularly use tools like Registry Defender.

Manual Changes Made to Registry

When people manually edit the Registry, they are prone to make errors because of the complexity of the data, and the errors may be significant enough to cause the system to quit working.

Copying Another Systems Registry

Copying other Registries is a very serious mistake many users make. Just because it works on the other machine doesn't mean it will automatically work on this one. Much of what is in the Registry is specific to the individual system, even if the hardware is the same. Copying the files that make up the Registry to another system will not work. Characteristically, if another system's Registry is used, most of the hardware will not work, and user and security issues may make the data and application information inaccessible.