V1.9.0.526/531 Registry Compactor Fails on Vista 64-bit

siliconman01

This problem applies only to Vista 64-bit. It is not a problem on my XP-SP3 machine.

The Registry Compactor fails to detect the following registry components to compact.

C:\Windows\System32\config\COMPONENTS

C:\Windows\System32\config\SAM

C:\Windows\System32\config\SECURITY

C:\Windows\System32\config\SOFTWARE

C:\Windows\System32\config\SYSTEM

C:\Windows\System32\config\DEFAULT

tullik

What does the hivelist key look like in your Vista 64-bit registry?

For example, using RegEdit export, here's my Vista 32-bit registry at a point in time (the number of hives can vary for several reasons):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00




"\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\HARDWARE"=""
"\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\SECURITY"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume3\\Windows\\System32\\config\\SECURITY"
"\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\SOFTWARE"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume3\\Windows\\System32\\config\\SOFTWARE"
"\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\SYSTEM"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume3\\Windows\\System32\\config\\SYSTEM"
"\\REGISTRY\\USER\\.DEFAULT"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume3\\Windows\\System32\\config\\DEFAULT"
"\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\SAM"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume3\\Windows\\System32\\config\\SAM"
"\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\COMPONENTS"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume3\\Windows\\System32\\config\\COMPONENTS"
"\\REGISTRY\\USER\\S-1-5-20"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume3\\Windows\\ServiceProfiles\\NetworkService\\NTUSER.DAT"
"\\REGISTRY\\USER\\S-1-5-19"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume3\\Windows\\ServiceProfiles\\LocalService\\NTUSER.DAT"
"\\registry\\machine\\Schema"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume3\\Windows\\System32\\SMI\\Store\\Machine\\schema.dat"
"\\Registry\\User\\S-1-5-21-2736614755-4186107725-1336004102-1010"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume3\\Users\\Owner\\ntuser.dat"

"\\Registry\\User\\S-1-5-21-2736614755-4186107725-1336004102-1010_Classes"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume3\\Users\\Owner\\AppData\\Local\\Microsoft\\Windows\\UsrClass.dat"

siliconman01

Here is my 64-bit hivelist

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

"\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\HARDWARE"=""

"\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\SECURITY"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume2\\Windows\\System32\\config\\SECURITY"

"\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\SOFTWARE"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume2\\Windows\\System32\\config\\SOFTWARE"

"\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\SYSTEM"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume2\\Windows\\System32\\config\\SYSTEM"

"\\REGISTRY\\USER\\.DEFAULT"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume2\\Windows\\System32\\config\\DEFAULT"

"\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\SAM"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume2\\Windows\\System32\\config\\SAM"

"\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\COMPONENTS"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume2\\Windows\\System32\\config\\COMPONENTS"

"\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\BCD00000000"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume2\\Boot\\BCD"

"\\REGISTRY\\USER\\S-1-5-20"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume2\\Windows\\ServiceProfiles\\NetworkService\\NTUSER.DAT"

"\\REGISTRY\\USER\\S-1-5-19"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume2\\Windows\\ServiceProfiles\\LocalService\\NTUSER.DAT"

"\\Registry\\User\\S-1-5-21-464387693-4043905789-3225329290-1000"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume2\\Users\\Tom\\NTUSER.DAT"

"\\Registry\\User\\S-1-5-21-464387693-4043905789-3225329290-1000_Classes"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume2\\Users\\Tom\\AppData\\Local\\Microsoft\\Windows\\UsrClass.dat"

siliconman01

And here is what Registry Compactor detects if I set my Casper cloned backup drive E:\ = True in Filecache.dat. As you can see, it shows the missing hives out on the registry that is on the E drive clone....obviously not desireable.

tullik

Well that's pretty straightforward. No doubt HarddiskVolume2 is the C:\ drive.

As you reported here ( http://www.macecraft.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=17414#p17414 ), the program somehow thinks the backup Windows directory on E:\ should be used instead of the active one on C:\.

I wonder what it would show if you temporarily renamed E:\Windows to something else, took out the E:\ exclusions, and then started PT2009-->Registry Compactor?

I'm assuming nothing would block the rename ...

siliconman01

I wonder what it would show if you temporarily renamed E:\Windows to something else, took out the E:\ exclusions, and then started PT2009-->Registry Compactor?

The above test results in the following:

tullik

So if Windows doesn't exist on E:\, the program misses the ...\Windows\config hives altogether.

I hope some other 64-bit users, especially those with Casper cloned drives, comment on their experience with PT2009's Registry Compactor ...

siliconman01

The Debug logs indicate that it finds all the hives. This is with E:\= False in Filecache.dat.

I too hope that other 64-bit users will investigate and post.

It is intriguing that the debug log shows "Exists(LicFile)=False" and "Valid(LicFile)=False". PT 2009 is properly licensed on my system.

tullik

Another thing you could try is Lars Hederer's NTREGOPT (if it runs on Vista 64-bit).

First look at C:\Windows\config and E:\Windows\config and note what's there.

Then create a Restore Point or do some other registry backup action.

After you run NTREGOPT and reboot, look again. You should be able to tell which (if any) config hives NTREGOPT compacted by the presence of backup hives (those suffixed with .old or _previous or ..., I forget).

If it compacted the C:\Windows\config hives, that would indicate the issue is caused by a PT2009 Registry Compactor bug and not your configuration.

siliconman01

The registry compactors of Ace Utilities and TuneUp Utilities 2009 do compact all the hives on the my system. They are both fully 64-bit compatible.

bz84k1l1

On Vista 64-bit SP1 with all available updates with jv16 PowerTools 1.9.0.528, I get the same problem as the original poster. This happened under the 2008 version as well. Like siliconman01, I have another (XP 32-bits) installation in F:\Windows (Vista's assignment; E: according to the BIOS assignment); unlike siliconman01, the system drive is D: (BIOS: C:), whereas the boot drive is C: (as always under Vista; BIOS: G:).

I seem to recall that a 32-bits app under 64-bits Vista can get misled by Windows about the actual location of certain folders and files. Could jv16's system of getting to C:\Windows\System32\Config regardless, be the problem here?

Update:

When renaming E:\Windows to E:\Temp, all hives with the file pattern E:\Windows\System32\Config vanished from Registry Compactor. According to my hive list, no hives with the file pattern \Device\HarddiskVolume5\Windows\System32\config are displayed, which again seems to indicate that access to Windows\System32\Config goes wrong.

siliconman01

Not fixed in Build 531

jv16

siliconman01 wrote
Not fixed in Build 531

Could you try this build 532 I did just for you:

http://www.macecraft.com/downloads/betas/jv16pt_setup_siliconman01.exe

If its Registry Compactor does not detect all the hives, please send the debug log for me to see again.

siliconman01

Fully removed the official PT 2009 and installed the test version.

It cannot gain access to the registry even if "Run as Administator" is used. It does detect all the hives; however, the size value on the System32 items is 0 kbytes. I have attached the debug logs and pics.

siliconman01

Here is the registry access error pic.

jv16

siliconman01 wrote
Fully removed the official PT 2009 and installed the test version.

It cannot gain access to the registry even if "Run as Administator" is used. It does detect all the hives; however, the size value on the System32 items is 0 kbytes. I have attached the debug logs and pics.

This is clearly progress, now the hives are listed and I know what's going on! I'll give you another version to test soon, I hope you don't mind.

By the way, with the new version, could you see whether the Settings > Maintenance > Flush Cache feature's problem has been solved too?

siliconman01

This is clearly progress, now the hives are listed and I know what's going on! I'll give you another version to test soon, I hope you don't mind.

Yes, clearly progress is made. Whenever you have a another test version ready, just let me know and I'll test it.

By the way, with the new version, could you see whether the Settings > Maintenance > Flush Cache feature's problem has been solved too?

No, unfortunately the Flush Cache rebuild problem is not fixed in the test version....sorry.

Just to be clear as to what the problem is.

- The first time that the Cache is flushed, PT will rebuild it again on the next PT 2009 restart.

- However, if the Cache is flushed again, PT will not rebuild it...irrespective of how many times PT is restarted or the system is rebooted.

jv16

Could you please try this:

http://www.macecraft.com/downloads/betas/jv16pt_setup_siliconman02.exe

And no need to uninstall the previous version, you can install these just over the existing version.

siliconman01

The good news is that the Registry Compactor now sees all the hives correctly. NOTE that I did not do an actual compact run yet. I just tested that it is seeing the hives. When you state that you would like an actual compact attempted, just let me know.

The bad news, however, is that the registry scanner now hangs and never completes. In addition, Messaging is no longer working. I've have tried unchecking each of the scan elements in the scanner. It hangs no matter which one I leave checked.

siliconman01

The registry scanner problem appears to be a Message problem. Turning off extended messages allows the scanner to complete.

Here are the debug logs. In this run, extended messages was initially on. I turned it off and then ran a registry scan...which completed okay. There are message related errors in the log.