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Cannot Disable the Registry Repair and Recovery Feature in Windows XP SP1

Article ID:815011
Last Review:August 29, 2007
Revision:3.4
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SYMPTOMS

Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) does not call a fatal stop error when Windows finds a corrupted registry entry. If you want to troubleshoot the cause of the registry corruption, you cannot collect the corrupted registry before Windows tries to fix it.

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CAUSE

Windows XP SP1 contains a registry resiliency feature to automatically delete corrupted registry keys when Windows starts, and when a user hive is loaded when a user logs on or loads a hive with Registry Editor.

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RESOLUTION

Service pack information

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Windows XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
322389 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322389/EN-US/) How to obtain the latest Windows XP service pack

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Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support (http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support)
Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language. The English version of this fix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.
   Date         Time   Version        Size       File name
   ----------------------------------------------------------
   20-Feb-2003  14:22  5.1.2600.1171  1,892,352  Ntkrnlmp.exe
   20-Feb-2003  14:22  5.1.2600.1171  1,948,416  Ntkrnlpa.exe
   20-Feb-2003  14:22  5.1.2600.1171  1,921,024  Ntkrpamp.exe
   20-Feb-2003  14:22  5.1.2600.1171  1,924,608  Ntoskrnl.exe

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Disable the Registry Repair and Recovery Feature

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
322756 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/) How to back up and restore the registry in Windows


To disable the Registry Repair and Recovery feature, install the hotfix that is described in this article, and then make the following registry change:

Key: \System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Configuration Manager
Name: SelfHealingEnabled
DWORD value: 0 indicates disabled

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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2.

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MORE INFORMATION

After you disable the Registry Repair and Recovery feature, Windows can stop with any of the following errors if a corrupted entry is accessed:
Unexpected Shutdown - Stop:0xc0000135
Stop: 0xc0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SYSTEM or its log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not writable...

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APPLIES TO
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP1
Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1a

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Keywords: 
kbautohotfix kbhotfixserver kbqfe kbwinxpsp2fix kbenv kbqfe kbwinxppresp2fix kbfix kbbug KB815011

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