When to use new ChkReg tool?

[Ben-Zion Joselson]

Can anybody recommend when to use ChkReg.exe tool to
recover a Windows 2000 system from registry corruption?
Does it restore the registry to its pristine state of
Setup (when only the built-in Administrator account
existed)? Or to what other point in the past? Is it better
than ERD or In-Place Windows 2000 install/repair?

Also, MS Download page for this new tool links to download
the Windows XP Professional Setup Boot Disks, but for some
reason it goes to their original version. Wouldn't it be
better to use the WinXPSP1a boot disks and enjoy their
recognition of USB2.0 external drives, thus increasing the
versatility of the Recovery Console started from those
boot disks?

Please advise.

 

[Dave Patrick]

I would use it as a last resort. When there isn't a recent backup. You can
backup your reg and create the ERD by going to; Programs|Accessories|System
Tools|Backup, then choose ERD, then if you check the box for "Also
backup....", then the reg will also be backed up to
%windir%\repair\RegBack
leaving the
%windir%\repair\
directory files intact as original installation.

You can replace a damaged hive from within the recovery console.

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks.
Press ENTER at the "Setup Notification" screen. Press R to repair a Windows
2000 installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The
Recovery Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do
not have the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Once the password has been
validated, you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access
to the hard disk. You can only access the following folders on your
computer: %systemroot% and %windir%

 

[Jim Byrd]

Hi Ben-Zion - I concur with Dave's comments. In addition to the approach he
outlined for you, I can recommend the following whole-heartedly:

Get Erunt here for all NT-based computers including XP:
http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/index.htm 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://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/erunt.txt, and for some
useful information about this subject

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 restore. Demung and email me if
you want the details on this.) (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.


--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP



In

 

[Ben-Zion Joselson]

Thanks for the suggestions. My question regards ChkReg
just as a precaution and I shall save your useful
info "for a rainy day". It seems you do not consider
ChkReg.exe as more than a kind of Microsoft gimmick and
not as a useful tool. Naively I had thought it might be
worth downloading, but there is no Knowledge-Base article
how to use it.

-----Original Message-----
Hi Ben-Zion - I concur with Dave's comments. In addition to the approach he
outlined for you, I can recommend the following whole- heartedly:

Get Erunt here for all NT-based computers including XP:
http://home.t-

online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/index.htm 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://home.t-

online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/erunt.txt, and for some

 

[Dave Patrick]

AFAIK it's a last-resort cross-your-fingers tool.

 

[Leonard Severt [MSFT]]

Can anybody recommend when to use ChkReg.exe tool to
recover a Windows 2000 system from registry corruption?
Does it restore the registry to its pristine state of
Setup (when only the built-in Administrator account
existed)? Or to what other point in the past? Is it better
than ERD or In-Place Windows 2000 install/repair?

Also, MS Download page for this new tool links to download
the Windows XP Professional Setup Boot Disks, but for some
reason it goes to their original version. Wouldn't it be
better to use the WinXPSP1a boot disks and enjoy their
recognition of USB2.0 external drives, thus increasing the
versatility of the Recovery Console started from those
boot disks?

Please advise.

Use Chkreg when you have a damaged registry and do not have a backup. It
works by deleting the damaged section so depending on the problem you
may end up with an incomplete registry. I have seen it work great
several times though and recover a system that would have otherwise
required a rebuild.

Leonard Severt
Windows 2000 Server Setup Team

 

[Ben-Zion Joselson]

Jim,

Thanks for your recommendations. I have Configsafe in my
IBM Intellistation, and it backs up the registry and
selected system files every week.

I recall a Microsoft article advising to start registry
editors with AT /INTERACTIVE Command line, in order to
access all registry hives including Security keys with
full System permissions.

-----Original Message-----
Hi Ben-Zion - I concur with Dave's comments. In addition to the approach he
outlined for you, I can recommend the following whole- heartedly:

Get Erunt here for all NT-based computers including XP:
http://home.t-

online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/index.htm 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://home.t-

online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/erunt.txt, and for some