Backing Up the Registry(continued...)

Back It Up!
The Registry is absolutely necessary for your Windows 95/98 computer to start up. It contains all the configuration information required by your system to run properly. A small problem in the Registry can stop your computer cold. A poorly written or corrupted program can mess up your Registry and cause all kinds of problems with your computer. Because its such an integral part of Windows, and because it can tend to be so volatile, its important to know how to back the Registry up reliably. It's also important to test your backups by making sure they can be restored.

The Registry files themselves are made up of two files called SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT. These are binary files containing binary and textual entries. They can't be read in a word processor or a simple text editor like '.ini' files can. Windows also turns on their system, hidden, and read-only attributes so that the user can't accidentally replace, change or delete these files.

SYSTEM.DAT contains the information and configuration for your system. The allocation of hardware and software resources. What's installed, what's not, and which drivers are being used by which devices. SYSTEM.DAT can be found in the C:\WINDOWS directory.

USER.DAT stores the different user preferences. Which colors and fonts are being used, passwords, wallpaper, which icons are visible and desktop configuration for the specific user. USER.DAT can also be found in the C:\WINDOWS directory. If the computer is configured to use profiles (different user names and passwords), then a separate USER.DAT is required for each profile and it will be stored in C:\WINDOWS\PROFILES\USERNAME. 'USERNAME' being the user name used in each specific profile. In other words, my specific USER.DAT file would be stored in C:\WINDOWS\PROFILES\CRAIG. There will still be a generic USER.DAT in C:\WINDOWS for users that don't yet have a profile.

Go look at them right now. You may have to change the view in Windows Explorer so that you can see hidden files. Click START/PROGRAMS/WINDOWS EXPLORER. On the menu bar at the top of the window, click 'View' and choose 'Folder Options'. You'll see 3 tabs at the top, choose view. Make sure the radio button that says 'show all files' is selected. Click OK.

In the left hand pane of Windows Explorer, scroll down and highlight the Windows folder. Now in the right pane, scroll all the way down until you find SYSTEM.DAT. You'll notice it's not as clear as the other files. That's because it's hidden attribute is set. Right-click on the file and choose 'Properties'. You'll see the file's attributes near the bottom. You don't have to change them. Now scroll down and find USER.DAT.

So to back up the Registry, we need to back up these files. I'm not going to discuss whether you should be backing up to floppy, zip or tape, this can and should be done when you do your system backups. What we're going to do is back the Registry up to the hard drive. That way, it can be accessed in the event of a Registry failure using your boot disk or the start-up menu.

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Windows95 AutoBackUp?
The good news is, Windows 95 performs an automatic backup of the two Registry files every time it starts up successfully. The backup files are named SYSTEM.DA0 and USER.DA0 (that's a zero on the end) and they're stored in the same directory as their counterparts. This way, if SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT become corrupted and Windows won't start, you can replace them with SYSTEM.DA0 and USER.DA0 which may resolve the situation.

The bad news is that these files are overwritten each time Windows starts successfully, and Windows' idea of a successful start may be different from yours. Often, these backup files contain copies of corrupted Registry files.

If you're using Windows 95, then look for these files with Windows Explorer in the C:\WINDOWS directory.

Windows98, 2000, ME - ScanReg!
Windows 98 also does a backup after a successful start, but Win98 tends to handle the process a little differently. The program that performs the backup is called Scanreg(SCANREG.EXE inDOS and SCANREGW.EXE when Windows is running). It puts the two files together and stores them in a .CAB file in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSBCKUP directory.

Scanreg keeps several backups allowing you to choose which one you want restored in an emergency. If you wish to perform a manual backup in Windows 98, click START/PROGRAMS/ACCESSORIES/SYSTEM TOOLS/SYSTEM INFORMATION and in the Microsoft System Information program, click on 'Tools' and choose Registry Checker. It will tell you that the Registry has already been backed up today, but will give you the option of performing another backup. Check it out.

Well, there's a couple of automatic backups for your Registry. What about other ways?

Don't Use Cfgback!
There is a program that came with Windows 95 called Cfgback. It will allow you to make several backups of your Registry and choose the one you want to restore when you need to. However, this program is unreliable. It can cause more problems than anything else, and I believe even Microsoft suggests you don't use it. So, I mention it here only to warn you.

The Registry Editor
One way to backup your Registry files is to use the Registry Editor. Be very careful in the Registry Editor. One mistake can cause your computer to become inoperable. That being said, it's really not that bad. Just don't make any changes. If you do, remember the Registry Editor doesn't give you a second chance. There's no Recycle Bin, and no 'undo'. As soon as you click, the change is made and there's no way to change it back(except for your backups).

Click on Start, choose Run, type in 'regedit' and press ENTER. The menu bar at the top will display the choices Registry, Edit, View and Help. Click on Registry. Then click on 'Export Registry File'. Another window will pop up asking you where you want to save the file (choose a folder set aside for this purpose). Next, in the middle of this window is a text box that says 'File Name'. Type in a name for the backup file, such as regbck. The file will be saved with a '.reg' extension.

Notice there is a section called 'Export Range'. This allows you to export the entire Registry (which is what we're doing here), or just a portion or branch of the Registry. That way, if you're just working or changing a single Key, you don't have to export the whole Registry.

Select 'All', and click SAVE. (Remember which folder you saved it in.) If you chose the name regbck, there will now be a backup file of the Registry in that folder called REGBCK.REG. Check it out.

To restore the Registry (or portion of the Registry) from Windows, all you have to do is double click on the .REG file. Pretty neat, huh?

Only problem is, if you have a corrupted Registry you may not get back into windows. Restoring from DOS is another matter. In fact, if you are doing a complete restoration of the entire Registry, and the files are fairly large, restoring from DOS may result in an error. For this reason, I don't use the Registry Editor as my primary backup.

Copy the Registry Files
And finally, my all time favorite way to back up the Registry... Copy the files to another folder. Here's how simple it is...

Once again, open the Windows Explorer. In the left hand pane of Windows Explorer, scroll down and highlight the Windows folder. Right-click any of the white space in the right pane and a pop-up menu will appear. Choose 'New', and then 'Folder'. Call the new folder what you like, mine is called 'SAFEREG'(Remember, you want to follow DOS file naming protocols). This is where we're going to save our copies (C:\WINDOWS\SAFEREG).

In the left hand pane of Explorer, click on the '+' sign beside Windows. Scroll down until you can see the folder SAFEREG (don't highlight it, the Windows folder should still be highlighted). In the right pane, scroll down until you find SYSTEM.DAT. Right-click SYSTEM.DAT and drag it over to the SAFEREG folder in the left pane. Let go of the button and choose 'copy' from the menu that pops up. Do the same with USER.DAT.

Just to check, click on the SAFEREG folder and make sure the two files, USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT show up in the right pane. Right click each one and choose 'properties'. Remove the checkmarks from the attributes boxes so that the system, hidden and read-only attributes aren't set. You're done your back up!

There are also third party programs that are available for backing up and restoring the Registry. I can't really comment on them because I haven't tried any. If you do decide to take this route, make sure you read and understand the manual and the restoration procedure. It's always a good idea to test your backups.

Restoring the Registry (next)