registry editor not available (W98)

[jillpmcd]

I have a Dell laptop running W 98, I'm trying to get into regedit to change the owner name, and disable a network connection startup window (this is a second-hand laptop from someone who used it in a networked situation) It will not let me into regedit, I tried Tony's suggestion of recover.inf but it did nothing! If you can help I would really appreciate it, and I'm not really well versed in this kind of thing, so the more simple you could keep the explanation, the better! Thanks you guys!

[7ate9]

Curious, why doesn't regedit.exe work, what error does it give? Simply solution is to try to rename it to regedit.com and try running that to see what happens. Let us know...

7ate9
WinGuides Driver Guide</font color=blue> (http://www.winguides.com/drivers/><font)

[TonyKlein]

Do you still have Regedit.exe sitting in C:\Windows, and what happens when you doubleclick it?

[jillpmcd]

yes, I still see it in the Windows folder, when I double click I get a very brief hourglass icon and then the cursor arrow reappears and nothing happens. I don't get any error message either way (through run window or C:\Windows attempts to access. I haven't tried changing the file ext. to .com - should that be my next step?

[TonyKlein]

I think you should first restore the original version of Regedit.exe from your Windiows CD-ROM, and see whether this is a case of the file being corrupted:

Go to Start/run, and type SFC.
Choose 'Extract One File From Installation Disk'.
Type regedit.exe, not worrying about its location. Then, click Start.

Next to 'Restore From', type in or browse for the file’s location, which is probably in the Win98 folder of your installation CD-ROM (typically D:\Win98), or in your Windows\Options\Cabs folder, as the case may be.

Then, next to 'Save File In', enter C:\Windows, and click OK. System File Checker looks for the file, saves it as you requested, and then tells you that 'the file has been successfully extracted'.

Also do an online scan at <a target="_blank" href=http://housecall.antivirus.com/pc_housecall/>Trend Micro HouseCall</a>

[jillpmcd]

I should have mentioned that I bought this laptop used several years ago, and I do not have the installation disks...is there anywhere else I can get this file? Could I use the installation disk from another computer (I have several, and one came with W98 installed - would this have the same regedit file?) I really appreciate all these suggestions...

[TonyKlein]

Yep, you could try another computer's Regedit.exe

Or you may have it yourself, if you've got the Setup cabs in Windows\Options\Cabs.

Try pointing SFC there.

[Jonjon]

I have the exact same problem jillpmcd has. I bought a used laptop (Toshiba Tecra) that has Windows98. When I turn it on it tells me that a certain printer cannot work because a driver is missing. I'm not even using the laptop with a printer, so I started looking for ways to get rid of that annoying message. I tried deleting the printer from printer settings but it always defaults back with each reboot. I tried editing desktop, add/remove - no luck. Then I heard about REGEDIT and thought I'd check it out. I found it on Windows Explorer, doubleclicked on it and it popped up for just a fraction of second, then disappeared, apparently closed again. A friend suggested I go to start, then run and then type in "REGEDIT" - same results. Next, I went to http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/190/ and downloaded the "unlock" feature. After doing so, I tried to open REGEDIT again, no luck, same results. As someone here suggested, I went to Windows\Options\Cabs but I wasn't sure what he meant by "try pointing SFC there" and I didn't see anything there that could help me. Next, I did what someone else here had suggested, I changed REGEDIT.EXE to REGEDIT.COM. Still, I couldn't open it. I saw where someone else suggested overwriting the uncooperative REGEDIT.EXE with a more cooperative one from another computer, but the only other computer I have access to is one with Windows2000NT that is also hooked into a lan (if I'm saying that correctly) and which relies on the network to reach community based software, so I'm afraid that if I overwrite the laptops existing REGEDIT.EXE with the new one I might have a whole new set of even worse problems - and I'm especially afraid I might not be able to access all of the software on the laptop that isn't on my other computer (because that computer accesses such software through a network). And I wouldn't want to hook my laptop into that network because I want to keep the laptop portable and I also want to keep my work and my personal business separate.

Any suggestions?