- Why
do I need to backup my registry ?
- Where
can I find regedit ?
- How
do I back it up ?
- Where
do I put it ?
- What
do I name it ?
- I
think I need to fix my registry, how do I restore it ?
- What
is Import ?
- What
is Export ?
- WINDOWS
won't start, it says my registry is corrupt, what do I do now ?
- . What are the
DOS command line syntax for regedit ?
There are several ways to have your registry get corrupt. If installing
WINDOWS all over again each time this happens, does not sound like your idea of
a fun time, then having a backup of your (MOST CURRENT) registry, can save you a
lot of grief. Each time you install new software (Windows programs), it adds
information about itself in your registry. If this information gets corrupt, you
may not be able to run your program, or if the information in the registry is
about WINDOWS itself, you may not even be able to start WINDOWS. If, each time you
install a new program, you make a backup copy of your registry, you will never
again have to worry about a corrupt registry problem. Below, I will show you how
to make a backup copy (Export), and most importantly, what to do to restore
(Import) the backup when you need it.
There are several ways to do this. One easy way is to go to your
START bar, click on RUN, and a window pops up.
In the text area, type regedit and click on
OK. This should start your registry editor. If this method does
not work for you, then go to your START bar and click on
RUN, then click on BROWSE. Go to your windows
directory and find regedit. double click on it, then click
OK, and your on your way.
This is not very hard at all. You will see your registry and all its keys.
All you need do is, click on registry, then click on
Export registry file... A new window will pop up that will
allow you to name the exported registry file anything you want, and you can tell
it where you want to put the file. Having done that, all you need do now is
close regedit by clicking on the X in
the upper right corner of the regedit window.
This is a question of, where do you put ALL of your important files. For the
most part, I keep all this kind of information right in the root directory of my
main drive ( C: ). Because most program default to this
directory when you open them, I can see what I am looking for right away. You
can put your backup anywhere you want, just make sure, you remember where you
put it.
This too is an easy answer. Because we are using WINDOWS, we can name it
anything we want, and have it make some sense. It used to be that we were
limited to 8 characters. Now we can add spaces and capitalize if we wish to.
Look at the graphic above (in Where do I put it?). You will see that I have
selected a name for my file of ( my most recent registry
backup.reg.). While what I put before the .reg is not
important, the .reg is. You may not see the
.reg after you have saved it, but it is there none the less.
This tells WIN95 what kind of file it is, and in WIN95 the .reg
tells WIN95 that this is a registry file. This will become important later.
OK, we now have a problem (or at least think we do) with our registry and now
we need to restore it (Import). All we need do is, start your regedit
and click on Registry, the click on Import
registry file... and a new window will pop up, that is asking where is
the file you want to import (restore from). In my example, I would click on
my most recent registry backup.reg and it will put that file
name in the text window for you. You then click on Open
and it will import that registry for you. One important thing to remember is,
YOU MUST RESTART WINDOWS to make your new registry work.
Import is the option we use to bring a registry setting(s) into our current
registry. You must be careful with this, as it will over-ride any duplicate
settings. This is to say that, when we import a registry, we want all the new
settings to be made, no matter what the current settings are. This is why it is
so important to make sure you have a current backup. And ALWAYS, ALWAYS,
ALWAYS backup
your current registry before you import ANY registry.
Export is the command we use to take a portion, or all, of our registry
settings and copy it elsewhere. This is a safe command, as it does not in anyway
change our registry.
We have a worse case example now. Don't think it cant happen to you, because
this can happen to anyone. Its the nature of the beast with WINDOWS. The good news
is, those that have a backup copy of their registry will not have to panic like
a person who does not have such a copy.
(((I do wish to put a qualifier here however. If you are having this kind of
problem on anything like a regular basis, you really do need to have a qualified
person take a look at your system. This may be expensive, but its money well
spent to prevent a total loss of all data. )))
Regedit is a file that can be called from DOS. (DOS is when you boot your PC
to "Command Prompt Only" after pressing F8 when it says "Starting Windows"). You
will see a bunch of stuff go thru your screen, then you will end up with a black
screen and a C:\> with a blinking cursor after it.
We will need to type exactly as I show you, I will put what you need to type
in brackets [ ], please do not use the brackets when you type it. First we need
to type [ CD\windows ]. then you should have a screen that looks like this
below.
Then you will need to type [ regedit c:\mymost~1.reg ] and hit your return
key. One important note. This command line will only work if your registry is
intact, just corrupt. If you have lost your registry, you will need to create a
new one. You will know this is the case if you get an error message that it
cannot find the registry. In this case, you will need to type [ regedit /C
c:\mymost~1.reg ] this will create a new on from your backup.
Some may have noticed that I didn't spell (my most current registry backup)
instead I used (mymost~1). This is because DOS does not recognize long file
names. If you need to find out how yours was named in DOS, all you need do is,
go to the directory you save it in (in my case C:\), and type [ dir. *.reg ].
This will list all registry files and give you the DOS names.
If you want to know more about all the DOS command line parameters for
regedit, all you need do is, start your PC in DOS (F8), and go to the Windows
directory (CD\WINDOWS) and type [ regedit /? ]. This will display for you, all
the command line options that are available for regedit.
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