Sysinternals Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home > Sysinternals Utilities > Autoruns
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed: I just unchecked Userinit... am I totally screwed?
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Calendar   Register Register  Login Login

I just unchecked Userinit... am I totally screwed?
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  12>
Author
Message Reverse Sort Order
  Share Topic Share Topic  Topic Search Topic Search  Topic Options Topic Options
molotov View Drop Down
Moderator Group
Moderator Group
Avatar

Joined: 04 October 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17492 		Post Options Post Options   Quote molotov Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: I just unchecked Userinit... am I totally screwed?
    Posted: 18 August 2007 at 8:48am
Hi, Chad.
 
I think with Vista, you'll have it easier than with XP: Use the Windows Recovery Environment.
 
Since you can use "Regedit to load registry hives", you should be able to manually redo that which you told Autoruns to (un)do.  On my Vista 32-bit system, [HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon] has a REG_SZ value of Userinit, with data of:
C:\Windows\system32\userinit.exe,
 
I would think you could boot to WinRE, launch regedit, load the SOFTWARE hive from [C:\windows\system32\config] (after making a backup of it by simply copying the file elsewhere, or with a different name, of course), and make the above change.
 
Note that I've not had a chance to try this, but if I were in your situation, it's what I would do...
Daily affirmation:
net helpmsg 4006
Back to Top
darkbeach72 View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie


Joined: 17 August 2007
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1 		Post Options Post Options   Quote darkbeach72 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 August 2007 at 10:01pm
Anyone know how to pull off the single machine trick for Vista 32? I'm totally hosed. I boot to a black screen with a mouse cursor that I can move everywhere but nothing else works. 
Back to Top
Karlchen View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 18 June 2005
Location: Germany
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5121 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Karlchen Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 August 2007 at 2:54pm
Good evening, emax.

Thanks a lot for your detailled instruction on how to recover if only one machine is available.

Regards,
Karl
Back to Top
emax View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie


Joined: 14 August 2007
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1 		Post Options Post Options   Quote emax Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 August 2007 at 1:26pm
much thanks to TC and other posters espcially Mako22 for not making me feel so alone. Same mistake here as Mako22.  Did the research and found TC's post.  I did not have a second xp box so I had to work out the alternative that follows:
Boot from XP CD into Recovery console
cd to config directory (from c:\windows> cd system32\config)
Rename software file to software.old (> ren software software.old)
Copy repair file to config dir (> copy c:\windows\repair\software)
exit the recovery console (>exit)
Remove XP CD from Drive before reboot finishes
On reboot F8 to enter "SAFE" Mode and log in as admin
Run regedit and follow TC's instructions except load Hive software.old from your existing machine being sure to include the ".old" extension instead of just "software"
Make his corrections and unload the hive.
Boot back into Recovery console
cd again into system32\config ( c:windows>cd system32\config )
delete software ( >del software )
rename software.old to software (>ren software.old software)
exit the Recovery console (>exit)
reboot without the XP CD in Drive
should let you login as before "BIG MISTAKE"
worked well for me and hope it would work for others
Back to Top
Karlchen View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 18 June 2005
Location: Germany
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5121 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Karlchen Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 July 2007 at 1:38am
Originally posted by Mako22

Ok, success!!!!

T_C_ will be pleased to learn, I assume.

Karl
Back to Top
Mako22 View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie


Joined: 10 July 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Mako22 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 July 2007 at 6:56pm
Ok, success!!!!
 
After reading through T_C's solution, I simply booted into the working XP install and created the Userinit entry, unloaded the hive and rebooted the original XP install... worked perfectly... thanks to all.
 
 
Back to Top
Karlchen View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 18 June 2005
Location: Germany
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5121 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Karlchen Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 July 2007 at 7:51am
Hi, molotov.

Making backups may be paranoid. But a little bit of paranoia may save your a.. from time to time.

Hope that one of the 3 suggested approaches will work for Mako22.

Karl
--
P.S.:
Originally posted by Mako22

Correct?
Provided redhawk has not missed a step, yes. - Do not forget to restore your spoolsv.exe afterwards.



Edited by Karlchen - 10 July 2007 at 7:56am
Back to Top
Mako22 View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie


Joined: 10 July 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Mako22 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 July 2007 at 7:49am
Thanks for the quick responses... I feel a little less sick now ;)

At least I have a few things to try.

I think the first thing I'll try is redhawk's instructions.

The fact that I have another XP install, I believe I can simply:
- create the fix.reg file and copy it to C:\
- create the fix.bat file and copy it to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
- rename spoolsv.exe to *.xex
- copy userinit.exe to spoolsv.exe
reboot and start Windows XP as normal

Correct?
Back to Top
molotov View Drop Down
Moderator Group
Moderator Group
Avatar

Joined: 04 October 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17492 		Post Options Post Options   Quote molotov Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 July 2007 at 7:20am
As I am paranoid, I might adjust T_C_'s instructions by suggesting that one make a backup copy of the "bad" SOFTWARE hive prior to loading and manipulating it with regedit, in the working install of XP.  Just in case...
Daily affirmation:
net helpmsg 4006
Back to Top
Karlchen View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 18 June 2005
Location: Germany
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5121 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Karlchen Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 July 2007 at 7:15am
Hi, Mako22.

Maybe redhawk's instruction will save you.

Else you might try T_C_'s solution.
(As you have a working WinXP on your disk, there will be no need for you to put the disk into another machine.)

Good luck!
Karl
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  12>

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down