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Symantec’s PIFTS.exe
Symantec released an update March 9th, 2009. This update was not given a digital signature to allow it to clear through Symantec’s firewall, so there was an alert that Norton was giving. The alert said that it didn’t know what PIFTS.exe was and that it could potentially be dangerous. And no, it was not dangerous.
Well this update has since been pulled by Symantec, however there are many search results in Google giving false information about PIFTS.exe. Most of them are malware / spyware programs attempting to get their claws into the unknowing public.
I am not going to talk about the forum problems Symantec was having. It’s not my place to write that story here.
I am just writing a quick note that PIFTS.exe is a Symantec update and there shouldn’t be anymore worries about it. Just don’t download any programs saying it will fix PIFTS.exe. If you did accidentally did download a piece of malware, then I recommend using Malware Bytes Anti-Malware program. It’s the one I use to clean up malware and other crud that shouldn’t be in systems.
The registry cannot load the hive (file)
Problem: The following blue screen appears
STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE
or its log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not writeable.
After the message, the computer automatically reboots.
These solutions assume that you have decent knowledge of the windows directory structure and command line. You must boot into the Windows XP CD and select Recovery Console. This is where the nitty gritty starts.
Solution 1:
cd system32\config
ren software software.bak
copy c:\windows\repair\regback\software
If for any reason, there is no regback (which occurs in many cases), then you will have to use Solution 2.
Solution 2:
cd system32\config
ren software software.bak
copy c:\windows\repair\software
[reboot]
Warning: This second solution will allow Windows to bootup. However it will restore the system to it’s first successful installation time. Registry entries will not exist for installed products. If you get to this stage, it is good to perform a System Restore on the computer to an earlier time. If you cannot perform a restore, then you might as well start reinstalling software that is essential.
To my knowledge (as of the time of writing this), If you get to this point, you might as well pull the data you have to get off and reinstall the OS. Otherwise, if you can work around it, then things should of course be peachy.
Any comments and suggestions are welcome. I will modify this article accordingly.
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Defective Kit 