100% Failsafe XP Registry Rescue

[EASTER.2010]

You done it before. Some new program wrecks your day by corrupting the registry where you simply cannot even boot up. Even the restore to an earlier version is useless. (Thanks MicroSTUPID!) You are caught in an endless loop of reboots that only goes as far as the dog ugly black start menu. You could as a last resort reinstall windows again but choose a different folder for installation directory. At least your valuable programs will be saved even if that means reinstalling a ton of them to correct for the new path. This happened to me recently, and no i don't have FD-ISR or any other snapshot app to save the day.

This website offers the way out of this dilema thank goodness.

http://www.aade.com/XPhint/XPrecovery.htm

It offers a series of steps but i chose to create the text files regcopy1 & regcopy2 to place in the Windows folder because at the command prompt that's where you turn to in XP with an unbootable system.

It's like 98/Me DOS command prompt window.

I entered at C:\Windows> BATCH regcopy1.txt AND rebooted successfully into the XP GUI again finally. Once there i chose a Restore Point before the problem and after reboot everything returns again to normal. Just keep enough restore points on-hand to use or even ERUNT which can also restore the registry and save you a huge headache not to mention wasted time.

Hope this little tid-bit helps someone who gets in a fix like this when you don't have all those high-dollar programs to bail you out, because it's very simple and works perfect.

Regards EASTER

[alakazooo]

HI!

do you have any complicated tips (but effective and free) for someone who have problems to close his windows...?!?:)

Or maybe I didn't understood that this regisrty recovery wasn't only for startup?


Thanks to enhance the knowledge of newbs like me!

[EASTER.2010]

Hello and Greets alakazooo

I'm a bit at a loss as to what it is that's a trouble for you. Could you offer some additional info so we can better understand what it is you need to make matters right again?

Thanks

[tgell]

This was an excellent article. You might also want to look at the program erunt (http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/) which is a utility for backing up and restoring a corrupt registry in XP.

[zopzop]

@tgell

woohoo, thanks for that link. :)

[True Orient]

I rely on Winternals ERD2005 to get me out of situations such as this. So far, it hasn't let me nor my friends down....

[EASTER.2010]

Got a link to ERD2005? How easy is it? And if so how much extra effort is needed to finally be of good use for someone.

I grew tired and frustrated with all that BartPE stuff, adding plugins, experiencing and reading problems and all that. Way too much trouble, things such as a simple registry restore SHOULD BE SIMPLE (microDUMB) not difficult.

That is a great write-up indeed and i skipped the other steps by simply once booted into the GUI finally went straight to System Restore, or you could go to your ERUNT restore folder if you have that and you are back in business pronto!!!

I have to email and thank that guy for that write up. Now i always keep a RegCopy1.txt/RegCopy2.txt firmly planted in the Windows folder just for that type emergency. Once at command prompt type BATCH regcopy1.txt and you're back in windows and able to restore before the disaster.

[Meriadoc]

I have the Administrator's Pak (http://www.winternals.com/Products/AdministratorsPak/Default.aspx#erdcommander2005) and the ERD Commander 2005 is a part of that.

[EASTER.2010]

Nothing at all against marketing and selling a viable product which keeps the consumer market in rotation but the above technique is a 100% quick, reliable plus free option.

Everyone has the right to choose their own options.

Thanks for the linked page by the way, very informative data to that product.

[taytong888]

Hi,

It appears that this procedure is based on using Recovery Console of Win XP Professional. But what can be done to help those users with XP Home? I have not found Recovery Console in XP Home, correct me if I am wrong.
Thanks in advance.

[argus tuft]

The recovery console is on the xp home install disc. put the disc in, and reboot, and then boot from disc. It'll detect that there already is an installation, and ask if you would like repair it.
(Just recently explorer.exe crashed, and trashed the boot partition, and the recovery console saved the day :) )
My disc includes sp2 if that makes any difference. (also it's an oem, but I think the only dif is the serial number.)

[taytong888]

Hi argus tuft,

My XP Home cd is even older than SP1, whereas XP Home on my PC is SP2 with most recent updates. Not sure how MS instructions will pan out.

[Longboard]

Hello taytong
This might interest you to bring your XP cd up to speed.
Creat a bootable XPSP2 cd.
http://www.google.com/search?&q=slipstreaming+Xpsp2

The first page is a good starter read.
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp
OR
http://www.simplyguides.net/guides/slipstream_sp2/slipstream_sp2.shtml


Forgot: @OP: Easter good links: ERUNT rocks.

[SirMalware]

"I grew tired and frustrated with all that BartPE stuff..."

EASTER.2010, BartPE is easy and the plugins are easy to make with the right tools. I've made several CD's and DVD's. Booted into RAM, I have run ERUNT from the dead hard drive sucessfully many times.

[EASTER.2010]

-{ Quote: ""I grew tired and frustrated with all that BartPE stuff..."

EASTER.2010, BartPE is easy and the plugins are easy to make with the right tools. I've made several CD's and DVD's. Booted into RAM, I have run ERUNT from the dead hard drive sucessfully many times." }-

I agree for some it's the most acceptable means of recovery/diagnostics in a failure, but as been echoed Bart just seemed too time-consuming to piece together for my interest. (That must be because i'm now a product of 21st Century thinking that any type of a recovery program conceived is expected to already contain ALL the needed files/programs in advance of release and distributed as an out-of-the-box solution)

I think, correct me if this is in error, that additional customizations are required to get it to a working and effective state and that requires some patience with additional time that i prefer to avoid.
No matter though becuase i found PARAGON BOOT CD, plus the free UBD4WIN, are already contain everything i need to make a recovery from a dead hard drive as well as diagnostics.

[Franklin]

This is how I think reg backups such as Erunt work and why I prefer ghost images as the only decent backup system.

If anything is deleted from the reg they are replaced.

Anything that is changed is restored as per reg backup.

But if anything that is added to the reg is neither deleted or changed and remain after a complete reg restore from a reg backup.

Scroll dowh to "The Downside of the .REG File Backup Method" in the link below.
http://www.theeldergeek.com/windows_xp_registry.htm

[Ocky]

ERUNT has saved my bacon several times used via the recovery console. AFAIK, and unlike .reg method, no merging takes place.
From the help file:

-{ Quote: "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." }-

Please also note that the recovery console can be istalled as an additional boot-up selection. To install it insert your XP Home/Pro CD go to Start > Run and type drive:\i386\Winnt32.exe /cmdcons where drive is your CD-ROM drive. Watch the spaces. Once installed you can select Recovery Console from your OS choices menu - provided of course that you can boot.
I haven't tried this, but I think you can access System Restore from the Recovery Console: %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

Regards.

PS: You might have to type the 'W' in Winnt in lower case.