Cleaning up Burn4free droppings



I'm using a VPN that scans my computer for risky things before
connecting. It found my computer to be clean if run from an
administrator account. But when run as a nonadmin user, it prevents
connection because it found:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Burn4Free

According to
http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/mrgratis.com/downloads/1848445/
Burn4free adds many things related to NavHelper/NavExcel, which many
people don't like. Apparently, neither does my VPN client. However,
Burn4free has been removed long ago, so many of the things in the
above website don't appear on my computer. I have no
NavHelper/NavExcel on my Add/Remove_Programs (launched as
administrator). Neither of the 2 strings show up in the registry,
explored as administrator. And there are no file names or directories
on my hard drive containing the string "burn4free".

I have always been warned to leave registry mucking to the wizards.
But I could at least search for occurances of the string "burn4free",
which I did using regedit from an administrator account:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.b4f
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\Burn4Free.exe
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\Burn4Free.exe\shell
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Burn4Free project
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Burn4Free project\DefaultIcon
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Burn4Free project\shell\open\command

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Direct3D\MostRecentApplication
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu\Programs\Burn4Free CD and DVD
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu\Programs\Burn4Free Toolbar

1 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.b4f
2 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Applications\Burn4Free.exe
3 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Applications\Burn4Free.exe\shell
4 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Burn4Free project
5 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Burn4Free project\DefaultIcon
6
7
8 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Burn4Free project\shell\open\command
9 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Management\ARPCache\Burn4Free Toolbar

10 HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-1000\Software\Burn4Free
11 HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-1000\Software\Microsoft\Direct3D
12 HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-1000\Software\Microsoft\Direct3D\MostRecentApplication
13 HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-1000\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Explorer Bars\{C4EE31F3-4768-11D2-BE5C-00A0C9A83DA1}\FilesNamedMRU
14 HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-1000\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu\Programs\Burn4Free CD and DVD
15 HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-1000\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu\Programs\Burn4Free Toolbar

16 HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-500\Software\Microsoft\Direct3D\MostRecentApplication
17 HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-500\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu\Programs\Burn4Free CD and DVD
18 HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-500\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu\Programs\Burn4Free Toolbar

I also exported the entire registry as a text file (REGEDIT4 file) to
doublecheck the keys containing "burn4free". The key names are found
are:

1 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.b4f]
2 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Applications\Burn4Free.exe]
3 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Applications\Burn4Free.exe\shell]
4 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Burn4Free project]
5 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Burn4Free project\DefaultIcon]
6 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Burn4Free project\shell]
7 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Burn4Free project\shell\open]
8 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Burn4Free project\shell\open\command]
9 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Management\ARPCache\Burn4Free Toolbar]

10 [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-1000\Software\Burn4Free]
11
12 [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-1000\Software\Microsoft\Direct3D\MostRecentApplication]
13 [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-1000\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Explorer Bars\{C4EE31F3-4768-11D2-BE5C-00A0C9A83DA1}\FilesNamedMRU]
14 [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-1000\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu\Programs\Burn4Free CD and DVD]
15 [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-1000\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu\Programs\Burn4Free Toolbar]

16 [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-500\Software\Microsoft\Direct3D\MostRecentApplication]
17 [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-500\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu\Programs\Burn4Free CD and DVD]
18 [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-527237240-920026266-1343024091-500\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu\Programs\Burn4Free Toolbar]

These do corroborate with those found within regedit, and
corresponding keys between the 2 lists are given the same number
above. Some features to note are:

* The exported file only contains the keys rooted in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_USERS. They do not contain the keys
rooted in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

* Keys 6 & 7 do not have corresponding hits in the search from
within regedit because the search facility only matches the
search string to the /last/ component of the "path" (or to a key
containing a value which contains "burn4free".

* Key 11 doesn't have an entry in the exported REGEDIT4 file
presumably because the export only considers keys that contains
values. There really is no point in exporting a key that
contains just another key, since the 2nd key will have its own
entry in the exported file (if it contains values).

* I presume that offending HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Burn4Free
shows up as item 10, and that strange code representing the user
is the account for which the problem experienced.

I would like to erase all the keys in the (first) longer list, and
fear causes me to want to back up the registry before doing so, which
yields a 21MB REGEDIT4 file when done as administrator.

1. Is it safe to go and remove the keys?

2. What is the most efficient (maybe scripted) way to remove the keys?
I'm more familiar with solaris (at a user level) and handier
with a text file than clicking at a GUI.

3. Is this the most advisable solution?

4. It seems more thorough to remove the keys as administrator. Is
this better than doing so as the user experiencing the problem?
Should I remove the keys as both administrator and the nonadmin
user?

5. Is saving a REGEDIT4 file an adequate safety net, or is it
better to save it in its default binary format?

6. Should I take a snapshot of the registry from both accounts?
That would create about 42MB of safety net.

7. Is there an efficient way to specify the exacty keys to export
in one shot? This would be preferable to saving 21MB of
registry per export.

8. What are some of the barriers to recovery if things go wrong?

Thanks for any thoughts on this.
.



Relevant Pages

  • Re: Non admin users cant do things they need to do
    ... i added the keys below to the registry (as administrator) logged off, ... can set the time then they can fake out system event logs by changing ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.embedded)
  • Re: Non admin users cant do things they need to do
    ... You mean they are along with the registry entires? ... i added the keys below to the registry (as administrator) logged off, ... can set the time then they can fake out system event logs by changing ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.embedded)
  • Re: 0x80070005 / _Inventory: Installer returned 0x5 (5)
    ... Are you the Administrator? ... Access Denied is a hard one to determine where the keys are failing - ... Use an account that has administrative credentials to log on to the Windows XP ... Navigate to the following key in the registry: ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsupdate)
  • Re: Cleaning up Burn4free registry droppings
    ... Cleaning up Burn4free registry droppings ... keys, to be carried out when the file is imported. ... administrator account. ... I also exported the entire registry as a text file (REGEDIT4 file) to ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.general)
  • RE: TaskManager
    ... with that account and see if you have access to registry and task manager. ... Im not seeing those keys in the system32 ... click on it says registry is disabled by the administrator.. ... these 2 keys contain all the group policies changes applied by ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)

Loading