A registry that has been backed up using copy or xcopy is restored in
the opposite manner from which it was backed up. For example, if you
have the NTFS file system, then you have to restart the system using
your backup copy of Windows XP.
When restoring a registry on a FAT-based file system running Windows
XP, it’s necessary to boot DOS, Windows 95/98/Me, or a second copy of
Windows XP. If you have a dual-boot installed (either DOS or Windows
95/98/Me), you can use the dual-boot to get to the other operating
system.
If you are restoring the registry on an NTFS system, then dual-boot
into the backup copy of Windows XP that you installed to back up the
registry. Avoid dual-booting into a previous version of Windows, as
there may be incompatibilities in NTFS support offered by earlier
versions of Windows. Warning: Once running the alternate operating
system, find your latest working copy of the registry before you lose
it in the restore process, and back up the current registry to
another, safe, location. Take this precaution just in case the
current registry is not the problem (it happens), and the backup copy
is actually not quite as good as you thought it was. You can follow
these steps to restore your registry from a backup you have created:
If you have no other acceptable backup copies of the original registry,
then you’ll have to fall back on the ASR disk and the copy of the
registry that is saved in the Repair directory. This technique is
fraught with peril, including the fact that the registry saved with ASR
may not have all the necessary information or be up-to-date. Properly
restoring the system registry from the Repair directory and the ASR
disk requires running the Windows XP Setup program. When it first
starts, Setup examines the hard drive and looks for already-installed
copies of Windows XP and their Repair directories. Once the
examination is complete, Setup gives you some choices, including Press
F2 to Run Automated System Recovery (ASR). Warning: Running ASR
with Setup will repeat, will cause Setup to reformat the system hard
drive, without further warning! If your backup is on the system
drive or a networked drive, be aware that you will either lose the
backup or you will probably be unable to access it! This will result in
having to do a complete reinstall of the system, and the loss of all
user data on the drive. At a later point, if you didn’t run ASR, the
Windows XP’s Setup program gives you three choices:
Now, you know that you are in trouble at this point, the only choice is
whether it might be possible to recover from your problems without
doing a complete reinstallation of Windows XP. Let’s say that you are
going to try to repair. First, select the repair option by pressing R.
At this stage, the Setup program switches to repair mode and continues.
The next screen displays four choices. You may choose any combination
or all of them:
This choice allows the repair program to check and repair the registry
files. This is the option that most of us will select. The repair
program will need either an ASR disk or the files stored in the
%SystemRoot%\Repair directory.
The startup environment is the Boot Manager, which is called by the
program contained in the boot sector. There are also other supporting
files—including boot.ini, ntdetect.com, and others—that must be
validated. The repair program repairs or replaces these files as best
as it can, but be prepared for some items to be restored to the state
they were in when you installed Windows XP.
Verifying the system files is a process where the repair program will
go through the root directory and all the system directories (such as
the Windows and System directories) and verify that each and every file
is valid. This process is used when a hard disk error (especially on an
NTFS volume) has made one or more system files invalid. Careful!
You will lose all service packs installed to this repair process. Reinstall
your service packs immediately after choosing this option.
There are several reasons to inspect (and repair) the boot sector. For
example, if you inadvertently install another operating system with
boot sector virus infections, this could damage the boot sector,
especially with the FAT file system.
All four of these selections are selected by default. You can use the
selector bar (use the arrow keys) to highlight and deselect any option
that is not desired; use the Enter key to select or clear an option.
Once you have elected to continue, Setup does a device check. This is
the same check that is done prior to an installation of Windows XP. The
next stage is to determine where the registry repair information will
be coming from. Remember, you can use either the ASR disk or the
copy stored in the Repair directory. If you have multiple
installations of Windows XP, be sure to choose the correct Repair
directory to repair from. Tip: The ASR disk tells Setup which copy
of Windows XP you are attempting to repair. You cannot use the ASR
disk from one installation of Windows XP to repair another installation
of Windows XP. It just won’t work.
Next, Setup does a drive check. The message indicates that drives are
being checked, and the status indicator at the bottom of the screen
shows the progress. Actually, Setup only checks the boot (C:) drive,
but that’s probably all that is needed right now. The next prompt,
which is displayed when you have elected to have the registry repaired,
is to determine which key or keys are to be repaired:
Replacing some hives and not others might result in some problems if
items in the registry have been updated since the registry was last
saved. Typically, it is best to replace all files if possible to avoid
any problems with different versions. Once the registry has been
updated, the Setup program prompts you to remove any diskettes from the
drives and reboot the computer. If all went well, the computer will
reboot and run.
Other articles you might like;
Windows Repair Xp Tool
1 year ago
[...] I do computer repair in the local Houston, Texas area. I get questions on MSCONFIG in Windows. Recovering a Copied Registry Restoring the system registry from the Repair directory and the ASR disk requires running the [...]
Registry Repair
1 year ago
Thanks for the great info. I have dugg and stumbled this article and hope it helps others as much as its helped me.
thanks again!
Sizzle
Ann Printer
10 months ago
Interesting.
Times are a changing.
I like XP but it can be tough to fix sometimes. (But it is still easier for me to understand than NT!)
Thanks for posting.