Registry Backup

[Stan]

In many instances when trying to follow certain tips one is frequently told
to back up the Registry.
When I try to do it by going to Run > regedit > File > Export etc it seems
to be okay but when I try to restore it, I get an error message that the
Registry backup wasn't done. What am I missing or is there another way to do
this? TIA Stan

 

[PA Bear]

How are you "restoring" it?

Are you familiar with System Restore and what it is?

 

[Kerry Brown]

In many instances when trying to follow certain tips one is
frequently told to back up the Registry.
When I try to do it by going to Run > regedit > File > Export etc it
seems to be okay but when I try to restore it, I get an error message
that the Registry backup wasn't done. What am I missing or is there
another way to do this? TIA Stan

Use a program called erunt to backup the registry. The built in tool doesn't
back it up properly.

http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/index.htm

Kerry

 

[Stan]

Thanks--looks good! Stan

Use a program called erunt to backup the registry. The built in tool
doesn't back it up properly.

http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/index.htm

Kerry

 

[Stan]

I am familiar with System Restore and have used it successfully in the past.
Does it restore the Registry so it can be used as an effective backup? That
would be simple and a great boon. Stan

 

[Steve N.]

In many instances when trying to follow certain tips one is frequently told
to back up the Registry.
When I try to do it by going to Run > regedit > File > Export etc it seems
to be okay but when I try to restore it, I get an error message that the
Registry backup wasn't done. What am I missing or is there another way to do
this? TIA Stan

Exporting the registry is not a full or usable backup. Instructions
usually provided concerning specific keys to backed up by exporting them
are for those keys only.

Steve N.

 

[Stan]

Good to know that. Thanks. Stan

Exporting the registry is not a full or usable backup. Instructions
usually provided concerning specific keys to backed up by exporting them
are for those keys only.

Steve N.

 

[Jim Byrd]

Hi Stan - Here's a little more info about erunt/erdnt FYI:


Get Erunt here for all NT-based computers including XP:
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/ I've set it up to take a
scheduled backup each night at 12:01AM on a weekly round-robin basis, and a
Monthly on the 1st of each month. See here for how to set that up:
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/erunt.txt, and for some
useful information about this subject

The following tutorials are useful:

Installing & Using ERUNT
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_eruntuse.html

To see an illustrated registry restore procedure
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_erdntuse.html

This program is one of the best things around - saved my butt on many
occasions, and will also run very nicely from a DOS prompt (in case you've
done something that won't let you boot any more and need to revert to a
previous Registry) IF you're FAT32 OR have a DOS startup disk with NTFS
write drivers in an NTFS system. (There is also a way using the Recovery
Console to get back to being "bootable" even without separate DOS write NTFS
drivers, after which you can do a normal ERDNT restore. See erunt.txt for
detailed instructions. Basically, if you make your backup into a folder
inside your Windows or Winnt folder, you can restore at a Recovery Console
boot by copying the files from that ERDNT folder into the system32\config
folder. After a good boot, then do another normal ERDNT restore to restore
the user hives also.) (BTW, it also includes a Registry defragger program).
Free, and very, very highly recommended.

FYI, quoting from the above document:

Note: The "Export registry" function in Regedit is USELESS (!) to make a
complete backup of the registry. Neither does it export the whole registry
(for example, no information from the "SECURITY" hive is saved), nor can the
exported file be used later to replace the current registry with the old
one. Instead, if you re-import the file, it is merged with the current
registry, leaving you with an absolute mess of old and new registry keys.

 

[Stallcup]

In many instances when trying to follow certain tips one is frequentl
told
to back up the Registry.
When I try to do it by going to Run regedit File Export etc i
seems
to be okay but when I try to restore it, I get an error message tha
the
Registry backup wasn't done. What am I missing or is there another wa
to do
this? TIA Stan

You can backup the entire registry with complete restore capability b
using the WinXP utility ntbackup. Go to Start/Al
Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Backup. Back up "System State" whic
includes the Registry.

If ntbackup is not installed on your computer, you can use you
installation CD to manually install the utility. Browse the CD, and i
my memory serves me, I believe you will find it in the "value added
folder.

Good luck

 

[Stan]

Thanks for the great info! Stan

Hi Stan - Here's a little more info about erunt/erdnt FYI:


Get Erunt here for all NT-based computers including XP:
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/ I've set it up to take
a
scheduled backup each night at 12:01AM on a weekly round-robin basis, and
a
Monthly on the 1st of each month. See here for how to set that up:
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/erunt.txt, and for some
useful information about this subject

The following tutorials are useful:

Installing & Using ERUNT
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_eruntuse.html

To see an illustrated registry restore procedure
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_erdntuse.html

This program is one of the best things around - saved my butt on many
occasions, and will also run very nicely from a DOS prompt (in case you've
done something that won't let you boot any more and need to revert to a
previous Registry) IF you're FAT32 OR have a DOS startup disk with NTFS
write drivers in an NTFS system. (There is also a way using the Recovery
Console to get back to being "bootable" even without separate DOS write
NTFS
drivers, after which you can do a normal ERDNT restore. See erunt.txt for
detailed instructions. Basically, if you make your backup into a folder
inside your Windows or Winnt folder, you can restore at a Recovery Console
boot by copying the files from that ERDNT folder into the system32\config
folder. After a good boot, then do another normal ERDNT restore to
restore
the user hives also.) (BTW, it also includes a Registry defragger
program).
Free, and very, very highly recommended.

FYI, quoting from the above document:

Note: The "Export registry" function in Regedit is USELESS (!) to make a
complete backup of the registry. Neither does it export the whole registry
(for example, no information from the "SECURITY" hive is saved), nor can
the
exported file be used later to replace the current registry with the old
one. Instead, if you re-import the file, it is merged with the current
registry, leaving you with an absolute mess of old and new registry keys.

 

[PA Bear]

Short answer, yes. A Restore Point is basically an image of your Registry
at a given time. Using the Restore Point, er..., restores your Registry to
its state when the Restore Point was created.

But System Restore isn't infallible. See posts about ERUNT in this thread.