What Have I Done??!!

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Ok guys I'm in need of some help here!!

The other night I decided to re-install Red Alert 2 because my friend wanted to play. So anyway, I did, played for about an hour or so, got bored of it and thus decided to rid the game from my computer once again.

Now, as I was un-installing it, I remembered that WHEN I installed it approximately an hour ago, I remembered seeing something strange. When the install helper asks the directory where you would like to install it, it automatically chooses C/programfiles/westwood/ra2 (or something close to that). However, since my computer is filled with junk on my C drive, I put most of my games on D. Unfortunately when you change the directory to D, it removes the "westwood/ra2" part. So just before I chose to install it on D (without adding the "westwood/ra2" part in), it said "D/programfiles already exists, do you wish to overwrite it" Not really paying attention I clicked YES. I thought whatever.. It'll probably just create those folders (as it always has in the past).

I'm guessing that was like lighting a match in a room filled with gas.. But not the weirdest part yet..

So as I'm un-installing it, I can see it removing some of the RA2 files etc and then a few seconds later I see "removing, Black Isle/SoA" and thought WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!

Normally this process would take about 15 seconds, but after a minute it was still going. After seeing Shadows of Amn come up I thought that CAN'T BE GOOD Eventually IWDII and even BG came up also. I seriously didn't know what was going on here!! I decided to wait until it was finished and then suss it out after (as it wouldn’t even let me stop it!)

Then, to make things worse, we had a blackout (probably due to the weather being 40°C + for the past 2 weeks here). So a couple hours later the power comes back on and I turn on my comp, fearing the worst It starts up as usual, then I log in and everything starts loading up..

Now, one of the things I've noticed is, when I play a game online (such as Warcraft III, which is the only game I've played online), occasionally I might lag out or whatever, due to my computer being pretty old. Now, WHEN THIS HAPPENS, after I exit the game, I CANNOT go back into it, or any other game for that matter. However after restarting my computer, everything would revert to normal, so it was no biggie.

However after this little escapade, NOTHING works As soon as I log in, "error: could not load ‘dropdown_bg_black’" Now when that particular message comes up, a tab appears at the bottom (revealing this was for weather program that normally appears on start-up and nothing to do with BG, which I originally thought).

Yahoo Widgets still work perfectly. itunes still works normally, although when it’s loading the following comes up “windows is preparing to install itunes” and then functions as normal. Weird no?? Msn still works. Office still works. Mini games still work. But normal games don’t!! BG, BG2, Warcraft III, IWDII, None of them work! And all of them come up with the same message that they would if I tried to go into them AFTER I had lagged out in Warcraft 3 online.

Now, as for troubleshooting this issue:

• I tried restarting (obviously) and the same thing happened.
• I checked my D drive, all the games EXCEPT Red Alert 2 where still installed, although they wouldn’t work.
• I tried using system restore, firstly a day BEFORE I installed RA2, then a week before, although with no success

My computer still works normally, I just cannot play games anymore, which is a BIG loss! Now I was going to buy a new computer soon anyway, but in the meantime is there any way I can fix this?!?!?! Sorry if my explanation was a little long, I’m just really stressing here..

 

Dude! WTF did you do?!?!

Sounds to me like the registry got all messed up. You're going to need a registry utility to fix the errors. CCleaner has a very lightweight registry scanner that can clear out the junk left in the registry by crappy uninstallers, but since it's free, it can't do what the big boys can. Try CCleaner first. If that doesn't work, you might need something more powerful...I suggest Registry Mechanic if you're going to pay money.

However, it might be easier to back up your saved games, and reformat your drives and start over.

 

Ok, I downloaded CCleaner. Is there anything specific I need to do here, or just run the cleaner normally? There's an advanced section although it's whited out and when I clicked it, a number of warnings came up that I didn't like the sound of

 

Step 1 - Open CCleaner
Step 2 - Click the "Issues" button
Step 3 - Make sure all options are checked
Step 4 - Click "Scan for Issues"
Step 5 - Tak a nap. Just kidding, it doesn't take that long.
Setp 5.5 - Once it's finished, select everything, and click "fix selected issues"

That's it.

 

I think I may have a different version to you Kit..

Albeit 2.05.555. IS the latest version, the setup seems a little different, although it may be pretty much the same thing so excuse my ignorance.

There are four sections:
*Cleaner
*Registry
*Tools
*Options

In the 'Cleaner' section, there are 2 tabs, labelled 'Windows' and 'Aplications'. In the Apps section everything is selected, whilst in the windows part, everything EXCEPT the advanced section is selected. The advanced part is whited out, although when selected, it lists a few warnings, pretty much just things like 'the most used icons on the start menu will be reset' etc.

So should I just click 'run cleaner' with everything, including the advanced section, selected?

 

Ah, I'm still using version 1.36.430

CCleaner does two things...the first is like a version of Windows' Disk Cleanup Wizard on steroids, the other is the Registry cleaner.

You might as well do both. So after running the Cleaner, run the Registry scanner.

 

Umm I ran the Registry scanner and uhh..

*GASP* 357 issues

There's basically an issue for each category, the most being in either the Missing Shared DLL, Unused File Extension, ActiveX/COM Issue, Installer Reference Issue and Uninstaller Reference Issue sections, with a few in the others.

Now there IS the option of going through each issue separately or just fixing them all at once. Now considering I know absolutely NOTHING about any of this, I guess it would be wise to go through each one individually.

In some sections it says it cannot FIND what it is looking for and that I should just delete them. Could this be the cause as to why my computer is totally f#*$^d now??? What should I do..

 

Uhh, at this point, just backup everything you want to keep and do a fresh install -- it will be less of a pain than trying to fix everything.

You know the old saying -- destroy, erase, improve.

 

Yes that sounds like the ideal solution, but i dont have any of the things that came with my computer originally. So if i backed up everything and then deleted everything, I don't think I'd be able to re-install everything on the system.. The things for the computer to work anyway.

 

You know, you could just select the option to fix all issues at once. Juse create a System Restore point 1st.

Most of the issues end up being caused by crappy uninstallers..."Shared DLLs" and "Unused File Extensions" are the most common items left behind.

 

I did, but still my computer isn't working the way it used to

Any other thoughts?

 

Unfortunately, when I try doing this (with my desktop weather program for instance), it comes up in the control panel/add remove programs section, although it says the uninstall file (or whatever) doesn’t exist.

SO, I went back into the folder where I installed my weather program and re-installed it and O M G!!!

It just reappeared on the desktop!! Weird how I didn’t try this from the beginning I must admit because I thought the problem was wayyyy more complicated than it actually was! Now, I’ll try and do the same with my games and see what happens.. wish me luck!

Edit: And it worked!!!

 

lol you might want to reload your system. That's an issue I've never heard of and I've been working on them for a long time. It does sound like it's a windows reg. issue....besides reloading always makes things faster

 

I just wish it hadn't deleted all my save files and characters.. I was having so much fun with my party in IWD2 as well I guess I should be thankful that I was able to fix the problem at least!

Thanks for all the help guys, SP just seems like more of a better place everytime I visit