[cwconrad]

Hello all.
Here is my problem.
I am using vista 64 and when I run any reg cleaner (last one I used was Eusing Free Registry Cleaner) it gets stuck in a loop on Software\Wow6432Node\Wow6432Node\Wow6432Node (keeps going and going with more and more sub directorys of "Wow6432Node")

it shows over 50000 errors and just wont stop running.
This is all while running under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

So I I hit stop and decided to remove the files. Everything seemed to work OK but It got me thinking that I should try a third reg cleaner. I downloaded a free trial of Ashampoo which said Vista 64 compatible. BIG MISTAKE.

After running it and hitting clean registry, My controll pannel just up and disapeared. When I click on control panel a blank box opens up. The same thing happens when I do a right click the desktop and select personalize. It did something drastic to my registry.

Would anyone know how to fix this? I tried to use the Ashampoo restore and it said that it couldn't restore certain files. It did not fix the problem.

So I guess my questions are this:

1. Why is my registry getting so many errors?

2. Anyone know a good vista 64 bit registry cleaner that doesn't get stuck looping on this particular Wow6432Node.

3. How do I get my control panel back!

Any help would be super.
Thanks guys and Gals!

[1002richards]

Hi,
While you await assistance, please have a read of this often quoted article:

http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000643.html

I hope you get those problems solved.

Richard

[cwconrad]

Thanks a lot for the info. Much appreciated and a very insightful read.

[DoubleHelix]

Registry "cleaners" always find errors. They'll find errors on a brand new system. I've never trusted them and with the number of people that post about problems after using them, I still recommend not running anything like that.

Unfortunately, you're stuck if the program won't let you back out all the changes. Your only other options are run System Restore to a point prior to running these apps or repair or reinstall Windows.