Saving and Restoring the Registry

[W. eWatson]

I found <http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;322756>.
Looks simple, but I thought some time ago I had found an even simpler method
that didn't involve all that crazy %SystemRoot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe
sequence. Comments?

--
W. eWatson

(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

Web Page: <www.speckledwithstars.net/>

 

[Guest]

I found
<http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;322756>. Looks
simple, but I thought some time ago I had found an even simpler method
that didn't involve all that crazy
%SystemRoot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe sequence. Comments?

erunt

 

[3c273]

Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore is how you get to
System Restore with a mouse. I've also used the program ERUNT to backup and
restore the registry. It has done the job nicely more than once.
Louis

 

[W. eWatson]

After looking around a bit, it seemed like regedit with Export would do
fine. I saved the file, but was a bit surprised at the size, 110M. That is,
of course, the whole registry.
I'll check out erunt.

System Restore restores a registry? It looks like one needs to create a
restore point.

I guess I'm too late for that. I have a bad install of Acrobat that's messed
up my ability to fix it and even install new programs. Well, I'm working on
a way around it.

Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore is how you get to
System Restore with a mouse. I've also used the program ERUNT to backup and
restore the registry. It has done the job nicely more than once.
Louis

....

--
W. eWatson

(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

Web Page: <www.speckledwithstars.net/>

 

[Nightowl]

After looking around a bit, it seemed like regedit with Export would do
fine. I saved the file, but was a bit surprised at the size, 110M. That
is, of course, the whole registry.
I'll check out erunt.

I would strongly recommend Erunt. Regedit's Export function may be fine
for backing up keys or entries you're about to change, but won't help
you if you need to restore the entire registry.

As Erunt's Readme file says:

"Note: The "Export registry" function in Regedit is USELESS (!) for
making 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 without deleting anything that
has been added since the export, leaving you with an absolute mess of
old and new entries."

Erunt can be set to automatically back up your registry on boot, and
keep the files for a time period you specify; I keep seven days' worth.
If you also have or make yourself a "live" CD such as Ultimate Boot CD
for Windows or Barts PE, you can use this to run Erunt's restore program
from outside Windows if you ever have a registry error that prevents the
OS from loading. I've saved several friends' bacon this way.

Erunt's a marvellous little program -- and at such a good price In
my opinion every computer running XP should have it.

 

[3c273]

The system creates its own restore points along the way. What happens if you
open System Restore and select "Restore my computer to an earlier time"? I
see a restore point for every program install I did this month plus a system
checkpoint for every day.
Louis

 

[W. eWatson]

Interesting, yes, there are check points each day; however, I do not see one
for Acrobat. If I go back a few days, what will I lose? Will I lose only
non-system files. That is, will I lose jpg, doc, txt, etc. files that I
might have created.

I guess my next step is to discover when I first attempted to update
Acrobat. It's probably been 3-5 days.

The system creates its own restore points along the way. What happens if you
open System Restore and select "Restore my computer to an earlier time"? I
see a restore point for every program install I did this month plus a system
checkpoint for every day.
Louis

....

 

[thehman]

You can also save the system state. This backs up the whole reistry COM+ and
something else. Start run "ntbackup.exe" will get you started.

 

[W. eWatson]

I would strongly recommend Erunt. Regedit's Export function may be fine
for backing up keys or entries you're about to change, but won't help
you if you need to restore the entire registry.

As Erunt's Readme file says:

"Note: The "Export registry" function in Regedit is USELESS (!) for
making 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 without deleting anything that
has been added since the export, leaving you with an absolute mess of
old and new entries."

Erunt can be set to automatically back up your registry on boot, and
keep the files for a time period you specify; I keep seven days' worth.
If you also have or make yourself a "live" CD such as Ultimate Boot CD
for Windows or Barts PE, you can use this to run Erunt's restore program
from outside Windows if you ever have a registry error that prevents the
OS from loading. I've saved several friends' bacon this way.

Erunt's a marvellous little program -- and at such a good price In
my opinion every computer running XP should have it.

Thanks. That sounds worth doing. At the moment, I'm trying to protect myself
against simple changes in the registry to get out of this stall mode I find
myself in with Acrobat. I can't even open a pdf file.

--
W. eWatson

(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

Web Page: <www.speckledwithstars.net/>

 

[3c273]

Here is a description of what SR does. Maybe this will help you decide.
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/description.html
Louis

 

[HeyBub]

Thanks. That sounds worth doing. At the moment, I'm trying to protect
myself against simple changes in the registry to get out of this
stall mode I find myself in with Acrobat. I can't even open a pdf
file.

Acrobat Reader? If so, forget about it and download the free Foxit Reader.
It's faster, uses less resources, and doesn't call home every time it's
opened.

 

[W. eWatson]

Here is a description of what SR does. Maybe this will help you decide.
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/description.html
Louis

Good, but what does "Note: restoring a system from Safe Mode or from the
Command Prompt an Undo restore point will NOT be created!" mean? Is there
some need to use Safe Mode to do a restore or is that like performing a
trial run to see if things are OK, but without trying to really modify anything?

Since the Acrobat problem, I've somehow managed to install 2-3 new programs,
so I would guess that if I restore to a time prior to the problem, I'd need
to re-install the new programs?

--
W. eWatson

(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

Web Page: <www.speckledwithstars.net/>

 

[Bill in Co.]

Good, but what does "Note: restoring a system from Safe Mode or from the
Command Prompt an Undo restore point will NOT be created!" mean? Is there
some need to use Safe Mode to do a restore or is that like performing a
trial run to see if things are OK, but without trying to really modify
anything?
Since the Acrobat problem, I've somehow managed to install 2-3 new
programs,
so I would guess that if I restore to a time prior to the problem, I'd
need
to re-install the new programs?

If you've used System Restore or ERUNT, yes, that is correct.

 

[3c273]

Good, but what does "Note: restoring a system from Safe Mode or from the
Command Prompt an Undo restore point will NOT be created!" mean? Is there
some need to use Safe Mode to do a restore or is that like performing a
trial run to see if things are OK, but without trying to really modify anything?

Since the Acrobat problem, I've somehow managed to install 2-3 new programs,
so I would guess that if I restore to a time prior to the problem, I'd need
to re-install the new programs?

It means that if you do the restore from safe mode, you won't be able to
undo the restore. It sounds a little confusing but if you restore after a
normal boot, Windows will create a new restore point so you can put the
machine back to its current state if the restore doesn't work. Do the
restore from "normal" mode, not safe mode. Also, if you have the ability,
you should clone your disk before doing anything. At least get a copy of all
of your data in case of disaster.
Louis