Can't boot after v1.5.2 installation

I found something on the majorgeeks forum that worked for someone there.

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=163170

In case the link doesn't work (and I see the last link I posted to this thread at majorgeeks did not), I'll copy and paste:

"I had the exact same problem this week. Very frustrating. I tried three different utility programs that I could boot from the CD drive. Norton System Works, System Mechanic, and Fix It Utilities 8 Profesional. Fix It Utilities 8 was the only one that solved the problem. Use it to boot from the CD. Run the "Recovery Commander" then restore a "system restore checkpoint"
Everything is fine now. Works good. Cost about $30-$40"

Hope that helps someone.
 
Niteblitz said:
Sorry for the above post but it wouldnt let me edit. I am running xp on a gateway. I ran the scan yesterday and spybot deteceted a couple of items but the only ones i remeber where hellzlittlespy and a better internet auroura. then after i removed those i went on system internals to clean the registry, then i tried restarting the computer and the whole looping nightmare started. I cant access the registry through my network ive tried that, I was going to try the bart thing but im running vista from this computer and am not sure if it will work. I can get to the command prompt by using my recovery cd but all it says is A:\> and i have no idea where to go from there. Can anyone help?
Click to expand...

Not sure what the rules are here about directing people to other forums, but I figure at a time like this, the point is to help people get back into their systems, to heck with the rules, eh?

There is a discussion about this at majorgeeks.com. That discussion is here:

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=163170

One of the posters in that discussion mentions this to get to a system restore from a command prompt:'

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304449

Hope that helps!
 
How does one do any of this without an XP installation disc? It seems I've seem several solutions but I either need the installation CD or the instructions aren't very clear....Nor can I get in using Safe mode....HELP!!!
 
From what i gathered that link for system restore with the command promp you still have to get to your actual desktop or something, however i was able to creat this bart cd and to answer the question above me i did it without an xp disk. I went to a freinds house that was running xp and i just had it search for the xp things it needed. I am going from this website http://thinkinginpixels.com/quick-fixes/fix-windows-xp-log-onlog-off-loop/
i cant remeber who posted the link but ill see if it works ill let u guys know.
 
Spybot false positives

After doing several virus scans including some online ones spyware scans as well and alot of research, Ive figured out what started this whole boot prob. After doing the last update with spybot then running spybot, i found it was picking up false positives. I never had HellsLittleSpy, none of us prob did. By Spybot taking out that user init line in the registry (the supposed HellzLittleSpy) it messed up the comp. Some of you will prob have to do windows repairs or even format. It also gave a false reading for a line in the reg having to do with my Nvidia graphics card (aurora, a better internet) and coolwwwsearch. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
More obstacles

Yodama said:
hello,

here
are some hopefully helpfull descriptions on restoring the login.
Click to expand...

I have tried every one of the suggestions that I could, to no avail. The biggest problems: I cannot create the offline boot cd you recommend because it downloads as a zipped ISO that I can only copy (both to my computer and to a disc) but not extract; the Offline Registry Editor site notes this as a problem but says it can't help and I should go to a manual or friends (also no help). The affected computer (Compaq XP Home) is not on a network and I can't add it to my existing one now! I cannot make a Bart PE disc because I do not have a non OEM XPSP2 disc. My other two computers run XP Pro. I have tried all other suggestions on this list that I could understand; some are just too advanced for me. I cannot be the only one with all of these problems! And I cannot lose everything on the affected computer, which isn't even mine!! Any further suggestions?
 
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permission to edit registry

Malloc said:

>>I believe spybot is clearing a registry entry that is needed by Windows. Try this from another computer on your network, or by using Ultimate Boot CD 4 Windows to edit the registry:

To fix this remotely, open Regedit.exe on your computer, select File>Connect Network Registry
Enter the name of the computer to fix and then browse to the location specified in the reg file: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Change the key “UserInit” to this value:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe,
You must include the , at the end of the string.

This should resolve the issue. <<

I've tried several ways to do this, but I cannot get permission to read or write to my uncle's software file / registry. Any ideas?

Currently, I have his hard drive installed as an external on my PC, so that I could back up all his data. I can put it back in his PC but then cannot boot except on the BART disk, and I'm not sure how to edit his registry from BART.

Thanks in advance.
 
still struggling

I got a little further, by rebooting my computer (to disconnect uncle's hard drive). Reconnected, am able to open his registry hive HKLM in RegDatXP. Find the bad entry at Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

But...

The size of this key is set to 1, and I can't change it to contain the value
C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe,

ARGH!

Is the 30-day free trial of RegDatXP not allowed to edit? Is there something else corrupted in his HKLM that makes the data type=1 and lenght=1? How can I update the length so I can make the change?

thanks for your ideas...
 
Is the 30-day free trial of RegDatXP not allowed to edit? Is there something else corrupted in his HKLM that makes the data type=1 and lenght=1? How can I update the length so I can make the change?

thanks for your ideas...
Click to expand...

I created that bart cd and fallowed the the instructions in the link i gave above. theres a file that you link to your bart cd and it is burnt on there It automatically changes the registry. When i put it the bart cd in all i had to do is hit go and find the file which was on the cd and click on it and restart my computer. Excluding the creation of the cd the proccess took me under 5 min. Hopefully that will help.
 
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By George I think I've got it!

Sorry to post again, but I've edited it!

For those still struggling, things I learned along the way.

First, RegDatXP cannot edit keys to be larger than they are set to be. Since the value of the key “UserInit” was reset to nothing with a length of 1, RegDatXP cannot increase it to contain the correct value:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe,

Second, the Load Hive thingy is *scary*. Seriously, you appear to be loading something into your own Registry on your functional machine! But it doesn't seem to hurt anything on your PC's registry. <deep sigh of relief>

Follow Malloc's instructions, click on HKLM hive, Load Hive (use a really unique name so you'll see it - NOT a name like other hives and keys), go to your newly loaded hive, edit the value of UserInit, and then go back to the top of your new hive (I called mine Ed) and Unload the Hive. It saves the updated hive back where you loaded it from, in my case, on my uncle's hard drive.

I'm putting the drive back into his computer... and... it works!!

Somewhere along the line, both my and Uncle's PCs now skip the login screen, but I'll go into control panel and reinstate that. It's certainly a tiny problem compared to the logon/logoff loop!

Can anyone confirm that 1) this was a Spybot problem, and 2) ... I'm not sure - should I update his Spybot, or just tell him never to run it again??

(My problem with Bart was that I used my husband's Bart CD - we didn't realize that Bart CDs are situation specific, and the links that I visited from this thread didn't give instructions - just told you to create a Bart CD.)
 
You have toasted (i.e. destroyed) 100's...maybe 1,000's of people's machines. The solutions are complex and take advanced knowledge (like is the Bart CD good on Win 2000 Pro?....it looks like XP only)....it takes an advanced user to create this disk and load the three files. Thanks. Your software is worse than the baddest virus out there....complete destruction...and thanks again!!:spider:
 
ToastedPC said:
I downloaded the latest update last night, and today I am in the login/logout loop! My machine is a Dell. I came to work and asked our IT guy about it and he said 2 other people at work had had the exact same problem after running Spybot over the weekend!

I really think you should be devoting time to figuring out what your last update is doing to people's PCs... PRONTO!
Click to expand...

Toasted mine too....time for a blanket party!
 
What do you do in win 2000 pro to fix this...thanks...10 hours so far...everything tried...many dvd's wasted...nothing works......computer worked fine before Spybot reg. edit/deletion. Thanks!:snorkle:drowning
 
The website/server/download does not work...also will this work on win 2000 pro......great software that SpyBot is...........thanks!!

Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!






2. Method : Offline registry tools and password resetter

Requirements:
This tool requires a 2nd computer to download and create a bootcd, there are no further requirements.

The download can be found here
Download size is about 3 MB, which is quite small and makes this method recomendable

Once the CD is created the userinit affected computer needs to be started with this CD.

After the boot procedure has been completed, the system asks for the boot partition.
Usually the choice would be "1".
In my example it is "2".

Screenshot 1

After that the path to the registry is asked. By default the correct path is already given, so this can be accepted by pressing the enter key.

Screenshot 2

Next choose "2" : RecoveryConsole parameters [software]

Screenshot 3

On the next prompt choose "9" Registry editor

Screenshot 4

The system now enters a bash console like navigation for the Software key of the Registry.
Following commands may be helpful:

Code:
note that Names are case sensitive
ls - will list the current key contents
cd <$keyname> - will open the key given in <$keyname>
cd .. - will go up one layer of the key structure
ed <$valuename> - will open prompt to edit the value specified in <$valuename>So entering:
Code:
cd Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WinlogonWill lead you to the required location.

Screenshot 5

The command ls will list the contents.
Type
Code:
ed UserinitScreenshot 6

Now enter the required Data for the Userinit Value:
Code:
c:\windows\system32\userinit.exe,Screenshot 7

With the following command the Data of the Userinint Value can be confirmed:

Code:
cat UserinitScreenshot 8

If the data is correct you can now enter q to quit the registry editor mode.
Enter q again to exit the Software Hive.
You will now be prompted to save, enter y to save.

Screenshot 9


After that a prompt for a new run appears, enter n for no.
Screenshot 10

Reboot normally and log on to Windows.
 
Hard drive intact and accessible?

I'm guessing that all my data is still accessible and intact? I'd like to take my pc to a computer repair place (Geek Squad, etc.) and have them image my hard drive and then I'll just throw my dell in the garbage (courtesy of spybot). My time is worth more than the hours I know I'll need to fix this mess that sypbot apparently created with their malicious product. I'm buying a Mac today and will never use spybot again.
 
jms1002:

jms1002 said:
I'm guessing that all my data is still accessible and intact? ...
Click to expand...
Everything should be intact except the one registry entry that is causing the problem.

On Windows XP the normal entry is looks like this from a registry export:

Code: 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
"Userinit"="C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\userinit.exe,"
Or like this in Registry Editor (regedit.exe):

Code: 
Userinit REG_SZ C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe,
Where:
  • Name: Userinit
  • Type: REG_SZ
  • Data: C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe,
 
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