Backup Registry - Ridiculously Difficult

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Irish wrote on Tue, 14 Mar 2006 08:19:27 -0800:
Gordon,

I ran regedit, highlighted computer and left-clicked File>Export. In the
Export Registry File window I moved up to My Computer, highlighted CD
Drive (D:) entered Backup as the file name and clicked Save. A dialog
window opened reading: "You cannot save in the folder you specified.
Please
choose another location."

The CD is blank. Do I need to create an empty folder named Backup prior to
exporting? Will regedit not export to a CD-RW, as is the problem with the
MS Backup utility? Since I'm not as smart as a six-year old, as others
have suggested, any idea what the problem now is?
Click to expand...

Simple solution - don't backup to the CD-RW. Just dump the file on the hard
drive. If you completely trash Windows then having the file on the hard disk
will be easier to restore than from the CD-RW. If you lose access to the
hard drive then that CD-RW will be useless anyway.

Most applications cannot write directly to a CD-R/CD-RW. Windows Explorer in
XP allows you to drag-and-drop files because it has extensions to do so. If
you really must insist on using a CD-RW, backup to the hard disk and then in
Explorer drag that file to the CD-RW.

There is also a support tool called regback.exe on your XP CD (installed
from the Support Tools folder) - it's a command line tool that can dump a
copy of your entire registry to files. Again, you will need to save to the
hard disk and then copy them to the CD-RW, and it's not as simple to use as
regedit, but it does prevent accidental deletion of the registry. To be
honest though, making a mess of the registry isn't that easy - you need to
press a few keys in a certain sequence to do so (del, then answer yes to the
dialog, etc).

And restore points are always a good idea - I've fixed a number of PCs that
had suffered from "registry corruption" (all of them caused by uninstall
routines for programs deciding to remove more than they needed to, or the PC
being turned off while the registry file was being updated and damaging it)
easily because I could restore the previous registry from the restore point.

Dan
 
Sounds like you don't know how to use your CD burner. Unless you have packet writing, Roxio Direct
CD, or Nero InCd, or similar, you can't write anything directly to a blank CD. The blank must be
first formatted with one of the packet writing programs. What you can do is export the registry
to a folder on your C drive, then either drag that folder to the CD-RW drive or use your CD burner
software to write that folder to the CD.

I agree that the MS Backup program is weak, at best, but your knowledge of how to use the computer
is not much better. Blaming MS for this is not very sound logic.

: "Gordon" wrote:
:
: > Then open Regedit, highlight "My Computer" at the very top of the tree,
: > and click on "Export".
: >
: > That will export the ENTIRE registry for your user to a file you can call
: > whatever you like.
: >
: > --
: > Gordon Burgess-Parker
: > Interim Systems and Management Accounting
: > www.gbpcomputing.co.uk
: >
: Gordon,
:
: I ran regedit, highlighted computer and left-clicked File>Export. In the
: Export Registry File window I moved up to My Computer, highlighted CD Drive
: (D:) entered Backup as the file name and clicked Save. A dialog window opened
: reading: "You cannot save in the folder you specified. Please choose another
: location."
:
: The CD is blank. Do I need to create an empty folder named Backup prior to
: exporting? Will regedit not export to a CD-RW, as is the problem with the MS
: Backup utility? Since I'm not as smart as a six-year old, as others have
: suggested, any idea what the problem now is?
:
: Thanks,
: Irish
 
Irish said:
Microsoft SUCKS! Now that I have that off my chest let me relate this
incredible convolution!

I want to install MS Streets & Trips 2006 and am getting an error
message that an MS KB article says can be resolved by deleting
several registry keys. Well, better backup the registry first, right?
Yup! Easy? Nope! This is Microsoft remember.

Where the heck is the backup utility in XP Home? After some effort I
found that the XP Home backup utillity is not installed by default.
Terrific! Using another MS KB article I found it on my system disk
and installed it manually. All set to go, right? Are you kidding?

I went nuts when trying to backup System State to a CD-RW. Error box
said path was invalid or I didn't have authority to do this. Of
course the error message had NOTHING TO DO with the REAL reason
Backup wouldn't work - a really maddening and typical Microsoft
situation. After another diligent search here I found out that the
REAL reason is that this stupid utility won't write to a CD or DVD.
Well that makes sense!!! NOT!

My 256MB flash drive is too small by half to save System State using
Backup. Wonderful!

Well, I'll try using Sonic's RecordNow! Oh, oh! I have no idea where
System State is. Can't find it using Search or looking visually
through Explorer. Where do I find the Registry on my hard drive? Is
the Sonic product a valid application to backup the registry?

I'm a home user. I have no tape drive. I have no partioned or
external hard drive. I don't trust system restore as it has failed me
in the past. I don't want to have to buy third-party software or
hardware to sucessfully install MS S&T 2006!

I've read the documentation for ERUNT and think I could get into
trouble easily as it appears to be quite technical. Will ERUNT backup
to a CD-RW? The FAQ's don't say so. Is there some other reliable
freeware with a very user-friendly interface?

Has anyone another helpful solution to this ridiculous situation?
MVP's - don't be offended but this is truly unreasonable! I've been
three days trying to install Ms S&T 2006 just to get to this point!

Thanks,
Irish
Click to expand...

ERunt is a much better registry backup program than ntbackup and it is also
free,
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/
You can also download a user manual at the above link.

However if you really want ntbackup you can download it from here:
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/software/ntbackup.msi
 
Very simple to export the key (or value) you are *considering* changing
(deletion, modification, etc.) BEFORE you do anything else, and you can do
it with keys, if you're afraid of a click of the mouse. Just name your
export files so that you can tell what they are later, should you need them,
since you tend to collect a number of them doing things this way.

Most of the time you'll not need them, and that might lead you to stop
exporting them--then, of course, you'll need one!
J
 
I want to install MS Streets & Trips 2006 and am getting an error message
that an MS KB article says can be resolved by deleting several registry keys.
Well, better backup the registry first, right? Yup! Easy? Nope! This is
Microsoft remember.
Click to expand...

Actually it is easy. In Regedit Right click in any folder, such as
the one with the key you plan to change/delete. Select export. It
makes a .reg file. Click the .reg file if you need to restore.
 
Ron,

The problem, Ron, is that I don't want to do anything in the registry
without backing it up beforehand. A slip of the mouse and I'm in computer
hell.

Why export keys that have to be deleted anyway? There's no point to
restoring them. It's the inadvertent error while in regedit that I want to
protect against.
Click to expand...

I have admittedly done VERY little in the registry, and even
*I* understand that a SIMPLE "right click" "export" "type a
file name you like" "save it here"

is simple enough to not screw up.

I am one of the world record holders as "World's Worst
Typists"
and I just used the above information to back up my entire
system manually, something I've wished to know how to do for
YEARS.

Well, it's done now!

"Try it! It works!"

The POINT to backing up registry keys that you "plan on
deleting anyway" is that, IF you screw up the delete, you
can restore, and your computer still works.

If you haven't backed it up, and you screw it up, you have
nothing to restore.

If you back up, you have MULTIPLE chances to "get it right,
FINALLY!"


Hope that helps!

Good luck!


Tallahassee
 
So what have we learnt in this lesson then children.

"Lets not go slagging off Microsoft, just because users are dumb".
Click to expand...

I don't believe users are dumb. I DO believe that
Microsoft perhaps buries newbees (like me) in TONS of
information we must then wade through waist deep to find the
tiny bit that applies to us.

Which is why some of us are VERY grateful for expert user
groups...


like this one.

Where we can come, and sometimes-nice MVPs are here to help.

:-)


Good luck!


Tallahassee
 
That was enough to convenience me that you're too stupid to be doing
anything with the registry and that you're too stupid to have already
made a backup before (of anything).

Maybe, next time you want help, you should try asking without being
an a$$hole about it.
Click to expand...

I believe that Irish expressed the novice (we are all less
experienced and less knowledgeable than some) frustration
many of us experience.

I have asked several questions in here and got nothing but
cat calls and guffaws. Makes me think that some who don't
know would rather point fingers and laugh than admit, "You
got me! I don't know!"

I've gone away many times with no answer, and had to figure
it out myself or do without.

And a few times, someone has been so condescending with
their help they made me think they'd had a bad day and
needed a dog to kick.

I may not know everything there is to know about XP, but I
bet NO ONE in here knows every single wrinkle.


Lighten up on the newbees! You were one once!

Good luck!


Tallahassee
 
Yep, I admit it, early and I let the spell checker auto-correct me
instead of looking at what it replaced before I posted it.

Still doesn't explain why a person has to RANT instead of asking in a
nice tone when seeking help from the world.
Click to expand...

I would have thought this would be one place someone COULD
rant safely.

Guess not!

I mean, I've been around long enough to remember the DOS
days and "Syntax errors". Expert users were known for
wanting to toss THEIR computers out a high rise 60th floor
window!

One of my favorite cartoons from the 80s is the guy who gets
a Syntax error. The drawing is a computer FLYING from a
smashed high rise building window. The caption is, "Ok,
computer, tell me just one more time, "You have a syntax
error."

"How soon we forget!"

I was working one day and got a syntax error for the 10th
time. My boss walked over to show me how it was done. He
typed EXACTLY the same command sequence I had, and HE got a
syntax error.

That day I learned to cold boot.

Problem solved.



Good luck!


Tallahassee
 
Yes, and rejected it. As I wrote, system restore has failed me in the past
and I don't want to have to restore the registry and read that restore is
unable to perform the action.
Click to expand...

You don't need to "restore" the registry from the "System
Restore" utility. If you wish to restore a particular chunk
of registry, you merely right-click it, and select "merge".

Good luck!


Tallahassee
 
Richard,

I respectfully suggest that if a six-year old could have solved my problem
and I shouldn't go freelancing, then why the heck is MS wasting its time and
money publishing KB articles?

I don't want to back up the keys I need to delete because there's no point
to restoring them. I want to back up the entire registry in case I make a
gross error while in regedit. Instead of providing a tongue lashing do you
have a suggestion as to how I can back up the registry to a CD-RW?
Click to expand...

If you have the current Nero (I believe it's something like
6.6, you can backup the entire registry using the right
click export (do it in the LEFT column of the registry, one
folder at a time, rather than in the right column).

Once you have saved the entire registry to a new set of
folders, such as
registry backup
hkey classes route
hkey current users

etc.

when you have the registry backup full of registry keys and
in a folder safely saved,

you can THEN use Nero to burn the registry onto CD.

Just like any other data.

Good luck!


Tallahassee

Do you
 
I believe that Irish expressed the novice (we are all less
experienced and less knowledgeable than some) frustration
many of us experience.

I have asked several questions in here and got nothing but
cat calls and guffaws. Makes me think that some who don't
know would rather point fingers and laugh than admit, "You
got me! I don't know!"

I've gone away many times with no answer, and had to figure
it out myself or do without.

And a few times, someone has been so condescending with
their help they made me think they'd had a bad day and
needed a dog to kick.

I may not know everything there is to know about XP, but I
bet NO ONE in here knows every single wrinkle.


Lighten up on the newbees! You were one once!
Click to expand...

No, I was not a foul mouthed newbie like you were/are. When I post, even
when I was new to Usenet, I posted as though I was standing in a public
Library with all sorts of unknown people around me. I provide as much
information as I could think of, was polite as possible, waited for a
reply, when I didn't get one at times I would rephrase the
subject/question in some other manner because I figured that I might
have missed getting the issue across to the readers.

Since this is a PUBLIC place, one where people help when they can, where
you are not helped unless someone feels the need to help you, where you
are not entitled to anything, you will only get help because of the
desire of others to help you if they can.

Posting inflammatory, rude, obnoxious, foul comments will generally get
you flamed and/or ignored. Like it or not, you are your own worst enemy.
 
I would have thought this would be one place someone COULD
rant safely.
Click to expand...

Again, acting rude, foul, etc... is not a right. While you can do it at
your own will, it's not a good means to get others to help. You of all
people should know that.
 
Just do regedit /s <pathname\filename>

or export the specific key you'r about to delete using regedit... no need to
backup the entire system state.
 
That is an utterly terrible way to "backup" the registry. Totally
inadvisable, for reasons I hope you'd find obvious. For one thing, it
won't backup the whole registry. For another, how do you restore if you
need to?
 
Irish,
Those KB articles are NOT for you or people like you! There is a
reason people like us are called techs. We have spent YEARS studying
not just Windows or DOS or *nix, we've also learned basic
trouble-shooting techniques, logic, and all the tricks and tips that go
along with each of those platforms.

When you have a problem with your car, do you try to fix it yourself
or take it to a mechanic? If you did try to fix it yourself, did you
make it worse?

Using a computer is analogous to driving a car - you may be a very
good driver but that does NOT qualify you to work on it.

As a previous reply said: Next time, ask for help BEFORE you try
doing something you don't know how to do and stop blaming M$ for your
own ignorance.

Ralph
 
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