Restoring the Registry(continued...)

Copy The Files Back!
As I mentioned last month, this is the method I count on the most with my own computer. Of course, I use the other methods as well to add redundancy and give me peace of mind.

If one method doesn't work, another will.

Remember also, that anytime I include the directory or folder 'WINDOWS', I'm referring to the folder that contains the Windows files. On a different computer it may be 'WIN95', or 'WIN98', etc... and you need to replace 'WINDOWS' with the name of the folder on your computer that contains the Windows files.

For example, if your Windows files are located in the folder 'WIN98', and I say to type:

ATTRIB -S -H -R C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DA0
then you would type: ATTRIB -S -H -R C:\WIN98\SYSTEM.DAO

The same goes for any other file that you may have named differently. (Yes, I know I mentioned this before.)

This restore method, as I explain it, takes a few things for granted:

1. You followed instructions and backed up properly.

2. The folder you copied the Registry to is a sub-folder, or sub-directory in the WINDOWS folder, called SAFEREG.

3. When you copied the two files to SAFEREG, you removed the attributes as instructed.

4. You are at the DOS prompt. This is how simple it is:
We'll remove the system, hidden and read-only attributes from the two Registry files in the WINDOWS directory so that we can delete them, and copy the backups to that folder. Then we'll restore the attributes to the new Registry files.

At the DOS prompt type:

CD WINDOWS
(move to the WINDOWS directory)

ATTRIB -S -H -R SYSTEM.DAT
ATTRIB -S -H -R USER.DAT
(Remove the attributes)

DEL SYSTEM.DAT

DEL USER.DAT
(The Registry is now deleted, we want to restore it.)

COPY SAFEREG\SYSTEM.DAT
COPY SAFEREG\USER.DAT
(Copy the backups to the WINDOWS directory)

ATTRIB +S +H +R SYSTEM.DAT
ATTRIB +S +H +R USER.DAT
(Replace the attributes)

CTRL + ALT + DEL (Reboot)

And that's it! ..............

If you followed the examples I've described, tested them out, and continue to maintain these backups, you should feel fairly confident about recovering from any Registry problem.

Remember to make new backups whenever you add new hardware, software, or make any kind of changes that may affect the Registry.