Tips and Tricks

Tips & Tricks

Customize ScanReg Settings In Windows 98
ScanReg is supposed to make a backup file of your Registry the first time you successfully boot into Windows on each day. By default, the '.CAB' files created by ScanReg are in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSBCKUP folder, and contain compressed copies of SYSTEM.DAT, USER.DAT, WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI. Also by default, it keeps the five most current backups.

ScanReg, whether you use it from the DOS prompt or as the Registry Checker in Windows, uses a '.INI' file to store it's settings. The file is called SCANREG.INI and is found in the WINDOWS folder. You can use NOTEPAD (or any text editor) to edit it if you wish.

Here's the settings:

Backup=1
The default value is 1. This causes a backup of the Registry the first time you start your computer on any given day. A value of 0 disables the Registry backup. Leave it at 1, you don't want to disable backup.

Optimize=1
When entries are removed from the Registry, the amount of space they occupied is still left. When that space reaches 500Kb, it is automatically removed from the Registry. A value of 0 will turn off this automatic optimization. Leave it at 1.

MaxBackupCopies=5
By default, ScanReg saves the last 5 backups. This number can be set up to 99.

BackupDirectory=
This entry is usually blank, and backups are made to the C:\WINDOWS\SYSBCKUP directory by default. If you want to change the folder that the backups are stored in, just fill in the correct path. If you wanted them to be stored in a sub-directory of WINDOWS called REGBACKS, you would change this entry to: BackupDirectory=C:\WINDOWS\REGBACKS

Files=
Remember, by default the '.CAB' files store compressed copies of SYSTEM.DAT, USER.DAT, WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI. If you want to add files to this, you can if they are in the WINDOWS directory, the ROOT directory, or the WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. These directories are given folder numbers:

WINDOWS is 10
WINDOWS\SYSTEM is 11
ROOT directory is 30

If you wanted to add CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to the backups you would make this entry read:

Files=30,config.sys,autoexec.bat

No Other Registry Backups?
If you have to replace the Registry, and have absolutely no uncorrupted Registry files, there is still something you can try before reloading Windows. You can replace SYSTEM.DAT with SYSTEM.1ST.

SYSTEM.1ST is a Read-only, Hidden file stored on the root directory of your C: drive. It will restore the Registry to the settings when you first installed, and successfully started Windows. It may get Windows started, but you'll loose most your associations, and have to reload many of your programs that were installed afterwards. Any configuration changes or settings that would have affected the Registry will be lost. This is kind of a last resort effort before reinstalling Windows9x.

If your version of Windows9x is an upgrade version, I would be tempted to try reinstalling first because it will save some of your settings.

Here's the method:
Boot to the DOS prompt and change to the WINDOWS directory.

CD WINDOWS (ENTER)
ATTRIB -S -H -R SYSTEM.DAT
REN SYSTEM.DAT SYSTEM.OLD
(Remove the attributes and rename SYSTEM.DAT)

CD\ ATTRIB -S -H -R SYSTEM.1ST
(Change to the ROOT directory and remove the attributes from SYSTEM.1ST)

COPY SYSTEM.1ST C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT
ATTRIB +S +H +R SYSTEM.1ST
(Copy the file to the Windows directory and rename it SYSTEM.DAT, then replace the attributes on SYSTEM.1ST)

CD WINDOWS
ATTRIB +S +H +R SYSTEM.DAT
(Return to the Windows directory and replace the attributes on the new SYSTEM.DAT file)

CTRL + ALT + DEL (Reboot)

The method I've just described is not meant to be an exercise. It's a troubleshooting procedure you can use when you have no usable registry and the only viable option left is reloading Windows. In most cases, I would probably reload Windows, especially if it was an upgrade version. Sometimes however, the disks are not always available.

Check The Hard Drive
Here's one last quick tip. If the Windows 9x Installation CD is not available, check the hard drive! Look for a folder that contains all the Cabinet (.CAB) files, Setup.exe and other associated installation files. Since hard drives have gotten bigger, many people copy the installation files from the CD-ROM and install from the HD.

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That's it for this month. If you have any questions, comments, ideas or suggestions for the NewsLetter, or our WebSite, please email me at: suggestions@pccomputernotes.com

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