Tip #2674 - More on the Windows Registry
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More
on the Windows Registry
As I promised yesterday,
here is some more information about the Windows Registry. Today we're
going to talk about backing up and restoring the Registry and we'll discuss
how to do this in different versions of Windows. So, no matter what version
you use on your computer, this tip should be able to help you in getting
the proper work done to back up and restore your Registry. (Keep in mind
that there are two sets of directions for each Windows version).
Before we begin, here
is a copy
of yesterday's newsletter, so you can read about the beginnings of
the Registry and get a little more understanding of it before starting
today's procedure. Also, please keep in mind that some of the directions
get a little advanced, so if you're not 100 percent sure on how to do
them, get some help or stray from doing them at all. Okay, let's get going!
Backing Up
the Windows 95 Registry
1. Reboot your computer
and when you see "Starting Windows 95," press the F8 key.
Then choose Safe Mode Command Prompt Only from the
startup menu and press Enter.
2. At the command
prompt, type the following lines, pressing Enter on
your keyboard AFTER each line:
cd windows
attrib -r -h -s system.dat
attrib -r -h -s user.dat
copy system.dat *.bak
copy user.dat *.bak
3. WARNING:
These steps make the assumption that you do not have any files named
system.bak or user.bak. If you do have files with these names, change
the extension in the steps above to something else.
4. Restart your
computer.
Restoring
the Windows 95 Registry
1. Reboot your computer
and when you see "Starting Windows 95," press the F8 key.
Then choose Safe Mode Command Prompt Only from the
startup menu and press Enter.
2. At the command
prompt, type the following lines, pressing Enter on
your keyboard AFTER each line:
cd windows
attrib -r -h -s system.dat
attrib -r -h -s system.da0
attrib -r -h -s user.dat
attrib -r -h -s user.da0
ren system.dat system.daa
ren system.da0 system.da1
ren user.dat user.daa
ren user.da0 user.da1
copy system.bak system.dat
copy user.bak user.dat
WARNING:
This will restore the previous backup that you had made. If you chose
an extension other than .bak when you backed up the Registry previously,
substitute that extension above.
3. Restart your
computer.
Backing Up
the Windows 98/ME Registry
1. Click the Start
button, then click Run.
2. Type "scanreg"
(without the quotes) in the field and press the OK
button.
3. When the program
has finished scanning the Registry for errors, it will ask if you would
like to back up the Registry.
4. Click the Yes
prompt and the program will create the backup.
5. When it is completed,
press the OK button.
Restoring
the Windows 98/ME Registry
For Win98, reboot
your computer and press and hold the Ctrl key while you're
computer is restarting. Then choose Safe Mode Command Prompt Only
from the startup menu and press Enter.
For Windows ME, start
your computer with a startup disk. Reboot your computer and hold down
the Ctrl key while your computer starts up. Then select Start
Computer without CD-ROM Support.
You will now be at
a command prompt. Type c:\windows\command\scanreg /restore
and press Enter on your keyboard. A screen will appear
with a list of the previous Registry backups sorted by date. Using the
arrow keys, select the Registry backup you would like to restore and press
Enter again. A known previously working Registry backup
will have the word "Started" next to the date.
Scanreg
will now restore the Registry and check it for errors. When it is done,
you will receive confirmation and you can hit Enter to
reboot your computer. If you had booted your computer with a floppy, please
remove the floppy first before rebooting.
Backing Up
the Windows XP/2000/2003 Registry
1. Click on Start,
All Programs, Accessories, System
Tools and then click on Backup. If you do
not see the Backup utility, you will need to install it using your XP
or 2003 CD.
2. When the program
launches, if you are not in the wizard, select the Backup Wizard
Option.
3. When the Wizard
opens, press the Next button.
4. Select Only
back up the System State Data. Keep pressing the Next
button until you see Finish.
5. Press the Finish
button to start the Registry backup.
6. When it is completed,
you will see a report of the backup. You can then press the Close
button and exit the program.
Restoring
the Windows XP/2000/2003 Registry
Option 1:
1. Click on Start,
All Programs, Accessories, System
Tools and then click on Backup. If you do
not see the Backup utility, you will need to install it using your XP
or 2003 CD.
2. When the program
launches, if you are not in the wizard, select the Backup Wizard
Option.
3. When the Wizard
opens, press the Next button.
4. This screen will
list all the known backups that were done previously. Select the System
State backup that you would like restored.
5. Press the Next
button and then the Finish button.
6. When it is completed,
you will see a report of the restore. You can then press the Close
button and exit the program.
Option 2 (Only
for XP and 2003):
1. Insert your Windows
CD into your computer and reboot.
2. When it prompts
you to "Press Any Key to Boot from CD," press any key.
3. When the screen
appears that gives you the options to Setup, Repair or Quit, press R
on your keyboard to enter repair mode.
4. At the next screen,
select the installation of Windows you would like to work on. For most
people, there will only be one option.
5. When prompted,
enter your administrator password and press Enter on
your keyboard.
6. When you get
the prompt, type "cd repair" to enter the directory where
a Registry backup is stored.
7. Type the following
lines, pressing Enter on your keyboard AFTER each line:
copy default c:\windows\system32\config
copy sam c:\windows\system32\config
copy security c:\windows\system32\config
copy software c:\windows\system32\config
copy system c:\windows\system32\config
NOTE:
If it prompts you to overwrite the existing files, select Y
for yes.
8. When you are
finished, type "exit" and press Enter.
9. Remove your Windows
CD and reboot.
And there you have
it. With these guidelines, you can keep your registry safe and secure.
~ Ramachandran Kumaraswami
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