Windows Repair is a free software program for the Windows operating system that users can use to repair and troubleshoot issues they experience.

One interesting aspect of the program is that it suggests troubleshooting steps prior to running repairs on the system. A total of four steps are suggested, which include running a virus scan on the system (by suggesting popular free antivirus solutions like TDSS Rootkit Remover or Microsoft Security Essentials), checking the file system for errors and running a system file check.

The repair Windows options are accessible with a click on the Start Repairs tab in the program interface. Here you can select one of the three available repair modes. Basic Mode and Advanced Mode both run repairs automatically on the system, while Custom Mode displays the available repair options to the user. So what can be fixed by the software?

Reset Registry Permissions
Reset File Permissions
Register System Files
Repair WMI
Repair Windows Firewall
Repair Internet Explorer
Repair MDAC & MS Jet
Repair Hosts File
Remove Policies Set By Infections
Repair Icons
Repair Winsock & DNS Cache
Remove Temp Files
Repair Proxy Settings
Unhide Non System Files
Repair Windows Updates

Here is the screen that you see when you select the custom repair mode from the options.

The program explains every repair option in detail when custom mode is selected. That’s handy for users who need more information on a particular repair option.

Take a look at the Windows Repair that I found on YouTube.

Windows Repair can be downloaded from the developer website over at Tweaking.com. The portable software is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system.

Issues originate from different sources. Maybe files were accidentally deleted on the computer, or modified or replaced by a virus attack. Maybe a tweak or software update had some side effects, or a crash causes the problem.

Fixwin is a collection of 50 troubleshooting tools to repair issues in Windows. The program is fully portable and compatible with Windows Vista and Windows 7.

The developers recommend two steps prior to using their tool. The first suggestion is to run the Windows System File Checker tool (sfc /scannow) to replace corrupted or modified files. This alone may be enough to resolve the computer problem.

The second suggestion is the creation of a System Restore point for a fallback option in case a previous system state needs to be restored.

fixwin

The program divides the fixes in sections like Windows Explorer, Internet and Connectivity or System Tools on the left side of the interface. A click on a section displays all available repair options on the right side.

Each fix is listed with a short description that helps the user understand what it fixes when executed. A click on the Fix button next to each entry will initiate the repair of the issue.

List of all repair options:

Windows Explorer:

• Recycle Bin icon missing from desktop
• Reset Folder View settings to default
• Game Explorer is not working
• Enable Folder Options in Tools menu and Control Panel
• Fix show hidden files, folders and drives. Helpful if malware has changed the settings and prevents restoration in the folder options.
• Restore the Windows Sidebar
• Fix Recycle Bin icon, if it does not refresh automatically anymore
• Repair Explorer.exe so that it starts on system boot
• Drive icons (CD, DVD, Blu-Ray) missing or not recognized by Windows or programs.
• Fix Thumbnails not working in Windows Explorer

repair windows

Internet And Connectivity

• Internet Explorer icon is missing on the desktop
• Skip the Internet Explorer Run Once wizard, that sometimes appears more than once.
• Enable access to Internet Options
• Increase Internet Explorer maximum connections from two to download more files at once.
• Fix ability to change homepage in Internet Explorer
• Repair Runtime Error Dialogs appearing in Internet Explorer
• Repair Internet Connection and reset TCP/IP settings to default values
• Fix Font Style and Blurry Text in Source window in Internet Explorer 8
• Reset IE settings to default
• Enable right-click menu in Internet Explorer

Windows Media

• Repair An internal application error has occurred when starting Windows Media Player
• Fix Windows Media Player stops responding after installing a third party product that registers its own wmp.dll file
• Repair the slideshow in WMP
• Fix missing right-click context menu entries for media files that are associated with Windows Media Player
• Repair Windows Media Player Composition Mixer
• Fix Windows Media Player is not installed properly and must be reinstalled
• Reset Windows Media Library and fix library sync issues
• Enable automatic updates for WMP
• Flush and rebuild Windows Media Center database
• Enable flash content to be displayed in Windows Media Player while visiting online stores or the media guide

System Tools

• Repair Task Manager, fix Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator.
• Enable Command prompt, fix the command prompt has been disabled by your administrator
• Enable Registry Editor, fix Registry Editing has been disabled by your administrator.
• Repair MMC Snap-Ins, some viruses disable MMC Snap-Ins to prevent access to Group Policies, Local Security Policies, Disk Management and so on.
• Reset Windows Search to default, especially helpful in Vista if the message Search Failed to Initialize appears when using search.
• Reset System Restore to defaults. Aids for instance if the message System Restore has been turned off by group policy appears.
• Repair the Windows Device Manager not working properly, or not showing devices.
• Repair Windows Defender, resets all Registry settings and services to their default values.
• Fix Action Center and Windows Security not recognizing Antivirus and Firewall, or identifying the installed software as old security software.
• Repair the Turn Windows Features on or off dialog

Additional Fixes

• Repair Hibernate and Hybrid Sleep feature, fix Hibernate missing from Shutdown button options
• Restore Windows Sidebar gadgets, if sidebar gadgets missing from Gadget panel.
• Restore sticky notes delete warning dialog box
• Repair Windows Update, to prevent a blank page when visiting the update page
• Repair the help system in Windows, so that the Windows Help file opens when accessing Help.
• Fix corrupted desktop icons, clear and rebuild corrupted icon cache and increase the icon cache limit to 5000
• Fix Taskbar Jumplists missing or do not store MRU file lists
• Repair Aero Snap
• Repair Aero Shake
• Repair Aero Peek

As you can see, FixWin offers many fixes for common Windows problems. The portable troubleshooting program can be downloaded from the Windows Club website.

The 1-click-maintenance module will scan the computer system for various problems and spyware. The main advantage of this over the individual modules is the ease of use. Five of the six possible scan options are selected by default. The computer user can make individual selections to add or remove options from the scan

• Registry Cleaner: Fixes invalid or incorrect Registry entries
• Shortcuts Fixer: Cleans up invalid shortcuts
• Startup Manager: Cleans up dangerous startup entries
• Temporary Files Cleaner: Cleans up temporary files and recovers disk space
• Tracks Eraser: Erases the activity history and Internet traces
• Spyware Remover: Removes spyware and adware

Each section will list the number of problems that have been found. A show details button is provided that will open a new window with all the issues and entries found. Checkboxes are provided that can be used to remove specific items from the cleanup process.

A click on the Repair Problems button will clean all issues that have been found by the program. It is therefor theoretically possible to perform a system cleanup with two clicks.

The Modules section offers a better selection of tools to optimize and cleanup the computer system. It uses a sidebar menu that changes the available options upon selection.

• Clean Up and Repair: Disk Cleaner, Registry Cleaner, Shortcuts Fixer, Uninstall Manager
• Optimize and Improve: Startup Manager, Memory Optimizer, Context Menu Manager, Registry Defrag
• Privacy and Security: Tracks Eraser, File Shredder, File Undelete, File Encrypter and Decrypter
• Files and Folders: Disk Analysis, Duplicate Files Finder, Empty Folders Finder, file Splitter and Joiner
• System Tools: Process Manager, Internet Explorer Assistant, Windows Standard Tools

Several of the tools offered are inferior to specialized software programs for that purpose. The Uninstaller provided by Glary Utilities will not scan for leftovers in the Registry or on the hard drive for instance which Revo Uninstaller does. A similar problem has the Startup Manager which does not display all startup items which programs like Autosruns do.

Other modules on the other hand provide exactly the options needed to work with them effectively. The context menu manager for instance provides an easy way of removing context menu entries in Windows Explorer.

Installation

Installation of Glary Utilities Pro is straightforward. It comes as a zipped file that extracts a setup.exe, activate.exe and the readme.txt. The setup of the program is started with setup.exe. Do not launch Glary Utilities Pro right away but start activate.exe first to register the product by connecting to the Giveaway of the Day servers. A successful connection to the servers will register the product.

Positive

• Two-click maintenance that can be scheduled
• Many different modules and options
• Compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows

Negative

• Some modules do not offer enough options to use them effectively
• No options to add locations or paths to the program that should be cleaned up, e.g. traces left by portable software.

Glary Utilities Pro is available for free today at the Giveaway of the Day website. The program needs to be installed and activated today for the free license to be issued. The developer’s website is available here.

The following article explains how to repair defragment in Windows Vista. It will also mention alternatives in case the repair does not succeed. The following error messages are symptomatic: “The Disk Defragmenter is not installed on your computer” or “Windows cannot connect to the Disk Defragmenter engine”. The suggest help topics do not help in this case.

The first thing that can be done is to register two dynamic link libraries (dlls) again. This can be done by opening a command prompt as an administrator and typing in the following commands:


regsvr32 dfrgsnap.dll
regsvr32 dfrgui.dll


You might need to switch to the system32 directory first in the command line using cd /windows/system32/.

The second option is to reinstall the defragment tool completely. Locate the file dfrg.inf in the /windows/inf/ directory. Right-click it and select Install from the menu.

Alternatives To The Windows Defragmenter:

There are two possible alternatives. You can try and start the Dos defragmenter by typing in defrag.exe or install a third party disk defragmentation tool like disk defrag.

The two dynamic link libraries that can be the cause of this are jscript.dll and vbscript.dll. Their Windows Registry key settings might have changed or the files themselves are damaged or not existent on the computer system anymore.

The best possible scenario is that the Registry keys have been altered or removed. The error could be repaired easily if that is the case. This can be checked and done in the Windows Command Line which can be opened by pressing Windows R and typing cmd in the box. Hitting the Enter key will load the command line.

The two commands “regsvr32 jscript.dll” and “regsvr32 vbscript.dll” will register the dlls again and correct any missing or modified keys. It would be a good idea to test one of the dialog windows to see if the repair has succeeded.

If that is not the case jscript.dll and / or vbscript.dll might be missing or corrupted. The files have to be added again using the Windows installation disk.

Msconfig is the utility of choice for this operation. It can be loaded by pressing Windows R, typing msconfig and hitting enter. The General tab of msconfig contains a button on the right side named Expand File. A click on that button launches the menu shown above.

To replace or add the dll simply write its name in the File to Restore form, the location of the original file in the Restore From box and where it should be saved in the Save File In form. This will move the file from the Windows installation CD and replace the corrupted version. If no file is found it will simply be copied into the system32 folder.

Perform that operation for both dlls and register them again afterwards.