Windows Vista a 'registry cleaner' messed up pc-now can't even reboot into safe mode!!

Big Mistake. I should have known better! I installed 'Wise Registry Cleaner'. It found hundreds of problems that it indicated were 'safe' to remove.
Bad me to believe such non sense.
Now I can't even reboot into safe mode. When I try, I get a black screen, with mouse curser, but no graphics. Nada. Just black screen with mouse curser.
Besides a reformat, how do I fix this mess!!!

 

bruhowes,
Welcome to the bbs
I am not an expert on vista, but if it is anything like XP, you should have the option to do a repair install. This should also preserve all your data, in theory anyways.
Pop in the vista disk and see what options it gives you.
Sven

 

Boot from the Vista DVD and run System Restore to return the registry to a date before you started having problems. Look at Method 2 here http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/76905-system-restore-how.html?ltr=S

If you don’t have a Vista DVD you can download and create a Recovery Disk (32-bit x86 or 64-bit x64) here http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/ After downloading the ISO image to your hard disk, burn it to a CD (a DVD is not necessary as the 32-bit version is 120MB and the 64-bit version is 148MB).

 

GREAT IDEA - inserted & booted from original Vista DVD.
Summary: Same results as per above.
What I did. Checked BIOS at boot up - HD is recognized.
Booted from Vista. Got welcome screen to install Windows. chose my flavor (USA).
Came to Install WIndows screen. Clicked "repair your computer" in bottom left hand side.
Screen: System Recovery Options:
No previous operating system seen. Tried TWO things at this point:
1. Clicked button "Load drivers" - came up with a screen offering following options: osfilter sfpat sfpat2k sfpatlh sfpatxp upgcompat.
Tried all of above. Received same error message in "add drivers" box: "The Specified location does not contain information about your hardware" . Dead end, can go no further.
2. Clicked the other button option which said "next ". (still no OS recognized as per above)
Came to "System Recovery Options" screen, which asked me to choose recovery tool. Options are:
Startup Repair
Syterm Restore
Windows complete restore
Windows memory diagnostic tool
Command prompt
tried:
2a. "Start up repair" - result - get screen which shows some progress loading something. THen system reboot. Then exact same problem that started whole mess above in first post (ie after hd work, come to black screen with mouse prompt. Nothing further. ctrl alt del does nothing. Only turning off power at power supply can stop.
2b. System Restore: Get error message: "To perform an offline system restore, you must specify which windows installation you would like to restore. [note: Only Vista 32 home premium is on this machine]. Also says to install from c:\Windows, enter following command: rstrui.exe /offline:c:\windows.
2c. returned to system recovery options screen, entered the command. (3x in case of syntax error) After a pause, I get error message "no restore points have been created on your computer's system disk. yadda yadda. Only button forward is "cancel ". Big help
SO, I AM STILL AT SQUARE ONE
ANY IDEAS? HOW CAN I RECOVER THIS INSTALLATION SHORT OF REFORMAT???
I'm frustrated out the kazoo & really want to save install w/o wiping out existing install.

 

reply to BurrWalnut

Thanks for idea. I wrote my last post before I saw yours. will try.

 

Sorry to hear that recovery did not work.
You could try and re-install Vista without formatting the HD. It should install it in the same location (C:/windows) where it was before all this happened and might not disturb any data you have on it. No guaranties
Sven

 

Problem solved. Some Gremlin had ALSO altered BIOS so HD was not seen! Thus, Vista Install could not see previous installation & restore points. I did not notice BIOS change because boot screen goes by so fast. I discovered it by trolling thru BIOS. Once HD were re-enabled, the Vista Install disk saw the previous installation & restore points. Just had to pick a point (I chose one about a week back!) and I could use System Restore from Vista Install DVD.
What a lesson! I will NEVER trust unknown "registry cleaners" in the future. I should have known better than when it found hundreds of bogus registry "problems "!
I will stick with CCleaner or Advanced SystemCare in future. ANd always make sure to do a restore point before using even them!
THANK YOU to everyone for your help! Deeply appreciated!

 

PS - My Video Drivers were also trashed. I had to reinstall them in safe mode to get normal video again. Maybe that was why I was getting a black screen w/only mouse curser.

 

I also used a registry cleaner that I bought and it had a "boot mechanic" and told me that there were some issues in the booting sequence so I had it "fix" them. Same thing happened to me that happened to you. My fix wasn't that easy. I had to have the whole hard drive reconfigured. I lost everything on my computer. The product was System Mechanic by Iolo. Buyer beware! I will never use another registry cleaner again.

 

I hope this works for me. Today my Dell laptop was re-writing all the registry files on it's own! Then when it got done...just the black screen and curser. I will try this fix tomorrow. Thanks everyone on BBS what a wonderful way to get help.

 

Augh! Stay away from registry cleaners!