Hi all!
You've been very quiet.
Not to matter. I am almost at the end of my troubles. No guns involved either.
After trying to reinstall software and getting permission denied but no key listing I decided to try a bigger bat. Found a website that had a routine for the switches for subinACL.exe Ran it and got into deeper trouble.
Lost most of the desktop, the toolbar, the internet, just about everything. Couldn't get to regedt32 since the toolbar wouldn't work, couldn't get to command either. The top level administrator account was similarly affected. Looked like a full re-install was in order, but I didn't want to have to reset everything. One of the websites I had found talked about an XP repair install.
From my computer at work I got to http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm and printed the directions.
Went through his listed procedure and voila! The system was restored and almost all the settings were kept from prior to the problems. The only loss I have noticed is the Windows login screen pictures are missing. Don't know where to find them but they'll turn up somewhere.
I was able to reset permissions as needed, but for most applications that needed to be reinstalled, there were no hangups.
The printer drivers from HP for the Photosmart 7150 continued to be a problem. Somewhere along the line I had expanded the driver installation package to a temporary dirctory. Instead of having the driver's setup program do the install, I told the windows installation wizard to look in that folder. It took a little time, but the printer is now installed.
The system is still slower than I would like it to be, but I know there are things to be cleaned out of the registry. I'll now try to find some time and use CCleaner properly to do some cleaning and tweaking.
TTFN
Remember:
Doing it the hard way is always easier.
(Murphy's Paradox)