Scripted registry backups vs ERD

[kenw]

I'm looking for a simple way to automatically back up the registries for
all my clients' Win2K and XP systems. This includes freestanding PCs,
workgroups and domains.

Several times in the past few months I've been stuck completely rebuilding
a PC because one registry hive or another was corrupted, Last Known Good
wasn't, and there was no recent registry backup.

ERD floppies are a stupid idea for anything short of corporate servers.
Ever tried to find a self-adhesive floppy holder to stick to the PC so it
doesn't get lost? Ever tried to find that two-year-old ERD in a small
business office?

RDISK /S- was a great scriptable solution for NT4, but is no longer
available -- although I've come across something claiming it'll still work
if you copy the executable. I'm a bit leery of that one.

Windows Backups can be used to manually back up the registry, but it's not
*#@*@#* scriptable! It's enough to make you smash your install CDs! What
the H* was Microsoft thinking!

There are a couple of shareware solutions, but I can't see bugging every
client for a shareware fee for something they may never use, and billing
them all the extra time when it should be something I can install in 5
minutes and never look at again.

Recommendations welcome.

/kenw

Ken Wallewein CDP,CNE,MCSE,CCA,CCNA
K&M Systems Integration
Phone (403)274-7848
Fax (403)275-4535
(e-mail address removed)
www.kmsi.net

 

[Dave Patrick]

You can use regback.exe and regrest.exe from the resource kit.

 

[Mark V]

wrote in

I'm looking for a simple way to automatically back up the
registries for all my clients' Win2K and XP systems. This
includes freestanding PCs, workgroups and domains.

I use regback and regrest as well.

But look into ERUNT
http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/

Not sure if it will work for you as any system registry backup will
require local Administrator authority anyway. In a domain it might
be possible to execute with command-line switches via pssexec.exe (
sysinternals.com ) ... Never tried it. It may be possible to run it
as a schedule Task locally...

A ntbackup System State backup can be run from a command-line.
Possibly as a Task...