HELP: Fake Registry Messed Up My PC

I was setting up my PC as a development environment and ran a
ServerRegister.reg file that a previous programmer created. Contents of this
file are:

REGEDIT

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Software Company =
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Software Company\SoftwareServer =
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Software Company\SoftwareServer\DataSource =
"Webserver"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Software Company\SoftwareServer\DataPath =
"E:\PerforceDepot\Web Development\MainHomePage"




I believed this was a legit registry file. Even after running the file,
Windows says the registry imported successfully. Then all of a sudden I
could not execute/run programs. All file associations are blank/disappeared.
All my desktop/start menu icons are blank. I could not run explorer.exe, or
any exe program. I cannot open any text files or do anything.

Does anyone know about this weird mysterious disaster?

After re-installing Windows I found out that REGEDIT4 files have a
completely syntax. Did that weird illegal/fake registry file I ran above
corrupted my Windows XP? If so, how could I revert/fix the registry if I
don't have any backup? And how could I restore using MS Backup if I couldn't
run any programs?

you likely have a backup
of the registry already.

the easy way is to do a
system restore. Since
you are a "developer" and
were acting in an "intellectual"
manner, you made a restore point.
If not, then maybe your o.s. made
one for you.

the other are the backups
in the config folder in the windows
directory....

The registry was not likely faked
but was not compatiable to your system...

"Andrew Wan" <andrew_wan1980.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:MyZih.3730$Wy6.2162@newsfe1-win.ntli.net...
>I was setting up my PC as a development environment and ran a
>ServerRegister.reg file that a previous programmer created. Contents of
>this file are:
>
> REGEDIT
>
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Software Company =
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Software Company\SoftwareServer =
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Software Company\SoftwareServer\DataSource =
> "Webserver"
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Software Company\SoftwareServer\DataPath =
> "E:\PerforceDepot\Web Development\MainHomePage"
>
>
>
>
> I believed this was a legit registry file. Even after running the file,
> Windows says the registry imported successfully. Then all of a sudden I
> could not execute/run programs. All file associations are
> blank/disappeared. All my desktop/start menu icons are blank. I could not
> run explorer.exe, or any exe program. I cannot open any text files or do
> anything.
>
> Does anyone know about this weird mysterious disaster?
>
> After re-installing Windows I found out that REGEDIT4 files have a
> completely syntax. Did that weird illegal/fake registry file I ran above
> corrupted my Windows XP? If so, how could I revert/fix the registry if I
> don't have any backup? And how could I restore using MS Backup if I
> couldn't run any programs?
>