Howdy,

I have been trying to pick up 'computerese' for about a year now and before I wipe out what is left of my trusty Packard Bell 4610, which was given to me by my son-in-law, I am very interested in finding out the easiest and safest way to "back up my registry". I have visited countless help sites but for some reason it just isn't sinking in. I guess I am one of those old-timers who have to be taken through the procedure step by step. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and Regards ... Phil

Phil, The Microsoft link below gives detailed instructions to back up the registry for Windows 95 which should be of help to you. I'm assuming you are using Windows 95.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q132332

Tufenuf

The windows registry essential is a file called system.dat present in your windows folder. It is a file with hidden and system attributes.

Copy this file to another location and you can consider your registry saved. All you have to do revert back to this registry after sometime is to put it back into the windows folder.

You may copy the file when windows is up, but to restore it, rather put it back to windows directory after sometime you need to do that throgh pure DOS mode, as windows wont allow you to replace that file.

There is another method by which you can save the registry, ie, open regedit, click on 'registry', then 'export registry file'
make sure in the 'range' box 'all' is selected. then save under a name of your choice in a location where you can remember.
You can add all the registry entries to the registry at any other time by simply double clicking on the file. (thats ofcourse when windows is up)

I personally prefer to copy the system.dat as I can replace the registry if anything goes bad with a good copy by the use of just a boot floppy or if I can get through to DOS prompt using windows startup options.

Post back and let us know if you want step by step details to do the save and revert procedure.

-Kailas Shastry

The link tefenuf gave gives you pretty much the procedure to copy the system.dat and user.dat (oops...it slipped outta my mind).
But I wonder why MS wants us to go to DOS prompt to save the file, when you can just about do it using windows...

Some MS support !!, Thank God forums like this one exist.

Yes, you can copy system.dat & user.dat from Windows if your system is operational. You have to restore them from true DOS tho (Windows won't let you).

In case you wondered (in tufenuf's link) user.da0 and system.da0 are copies of the previous bootable registry which is saved automatically by W95.

Derek

I think the easiest way is to type in regedit at the run prompt and then click on File/export and save it. You then have a backup.

Hi Phil, Tufenuf, Kailas, Derek, stump,hi everyone,

Good posts above! ;-)

Some additional thoughts:
- You could create a batch file to easily copy System.dat and User.dat (needed you it, then I could give details here), but not a good idea as said below...
- As Derek wrote it, System.da0 and User.da0 are copies of System.dat and User.dat but don't count on these .da0 files! with Win95, copy is done everytime you start Windows... usually, when we are in front of some weird thing, we start the computer again, first thing... and we overwrite the good copy of the registry (*.da0) -this is not true with Ws98-
- If you have a problem with your computer, you need some time before realizing and accepting to deal with it! I mean that you must have enough backups to find a good old one, older than the problem (the key thing is the number of backups and the frequency of them -don't save every 10 minutes ;-) but keep old ones, one week old, one month old).
- In my mind, the solution is to keep several backups according to your reaction time and your usage of the computer:
--- create a C:\Backup folder
--- save Registry regularly (monthly, and exceptionally before installing a new program)
--- use Start/Run/type Regedit... save as stated in previous posts and give a name with the date in it, allowing to keep as many files as you need
--- from time to time, delete really-old backups!

HTH

Have a good day,
Gérard from Paris, France

Greetings All,

All these replies so early in the morning and from some of the members of ComputingNet I consider to be in the forum's "Computer Repair Hall of Fame" is great! What I would like to do is mull this over in my mind (what's left of it at this ripe old age of 61) and then I will post back with my version of what I think you are trying to tell me. I am leaning towards the 'regedit' backup because I can stay away from the DOS end of the computer family. All I am looking for is a fast and reliable way to back it up and then have the ability to restore it if I mess something up while downloading a program or attempting to make minor changes in the actual registry. Once again, all the posts are great and I thank you all for responding. Hopefully I will be back later today with my update. Thanks and Regards ... Phil

Gérard

I use batch files. When I want to save a "known good" registry I simply double click a file called RegCopy. If I want it put back I type RegPaste from DOS and it re-boots with the new registry. Like MS I also restore system.ini and win.ini

I find it a boon because MS only saves "bootable" registries (not necessarily good ones). I keep several copies, each with a note about the installed state. It will work with both W95 & W98.

Loads of confidence - I sometimes use it for quite trivial problems because it's quicker than sorting them out some other way.

I've not had much luck selling the idea on these pages (no idea why). I would be lost without them.

Derek

Hi Derek, Frenchie, Phil !

For the worst case senario-
I personally maintain a copy of the registry of what I call "virgin windows", the registry of windows with nothing on it, not even video card drivers.
(I have all the installables on the hard disk, so that in case the CD ROM conks, I am not left high and dry)
Thankfully I've never had the chance (or the bad luck) to use it!

For other more probable purposes:
After installing all my drivers, major OSes like Office XP, Photoshop, cool edit, NFS (yeah, its impt to me :) ) I have backed up the 2 dat files with the 2 ini also.

These I can replace from pure DOS if something goes wrong with the aid of a simple boot disk or getting into DOS from the startup options.

Ofcourse, for ppl like Derek, Frenchie, who (my guess) may play around the registry too much, a batch file is more suitable.

Regards,
-Kailas.

Hi Kailas, Derek, Phil, Tufenuf, stump, hi everyone,

Very exciting to read everyone's "organization" on the subject!

A decade ago with Win3.x (Kailas, you were a baby ;-) I had a kind of identity card for every computer I was responsible for: I kept several issues of Config.sys, Autoexec.bat, System.ini & Win.ini along with a file in which I wrote the main events -installations-... very useful to learn about Windows behavior.
With Ws95, I had a batch file to save system settings weekly and exceptionally.
With Ws98 and its 5-daily-issue-backup, I have kept the weekly batch file!

Have a good day,
Gérard from Paris, France

Hi Kailas, Derek, Phil, Tufenuf, stump, hi everyone,

Kailas, "virgin windows"... do you know about C:\SYSTEM.1ST? as far as I know, it can be used in "the worst case scenario" to re-generate the Registry! LOL
>For other more probable purposes:
Why not a ghost? you would have Windows settings, system files (.DLL, etc.) and software... the Registry is a key item in Windows but many problems come from poorly "updated" DLLs!

An advantage of exported .REG files as registry backups would be the possibility to easily extract somes parts of the file in order to fix a specific problem (and keep the newly installed items).
Let me state that I backup traditional .ini and .dat files (not .reg files)!
On the other hand, a drawback is that .reg exported files need an empty "registry" to be used as restoration files (problems with newly added keys).

HTH

Have a good day,
Gérard from Paris, France

When running Windows 98se, is it necessary to have an additional registry back-up besides the five (5) that are automatically saved? The method I am referring to is exporting the registry to the desktop with the date of transfer included. Can the OS be disabled to the point that one is not able to retrieve any of the five saved, but the exported version is available? Thanks,

All of the above replies are good.
After reading your follow up post I think we can be a little more specific though.

"All I am looking for is a fast and reliable way to back it up and then have the ability to restore it if I mess something up while downloading a program or attempting to make minor changes in the actual registry."

The second part first:
"attempting to make minor changes in the actual registry"

While in regedit and with the key highlighted in the left hand pane, go to the menu item "Registry", Export.
Name the file something you will recognize later and save it to a location that you can find later.

Make the changes and Export that key to the same location. Name it the same but add the word 'new' or 'modified' to it's name so you will know which is which.

Note: an exported key can only place information back into the registry that was removed. You will however have two files that you can compare the changes.
If you have removed information then you can simply right click on the .reg file and select 'Merge' to return the removed information.

This is what is meant when someone states "Backup the registry key before making any changes".

The first part:
"have the ability to restore it if I mess something up while downloading a program"

Some downloaded programs cause me no concern as to what changes it can or will make in the registry such as a program that is different than any other program I already have.
Other programs that I suspect need to or might make changes to the Window's core or system files do concern me. Also, if they are similar to programs I already have and do not want this new program to mess with the settings of the one I already have.

There are a couple of ways to add caution to this process.
InCrtl5 will record changes to the registry and changes to files when used to install a program.

Total Uninstall is similar but also provides the ability to reverse the changes made. (I have not tried Total Uninstall yet)

I presently use InCtrl5 to install a program of concern. After using Add/Remove in the Control Panel to uninstall it I refer to the log made with InCtrl5 to make sure all the registry changes have been removed using the programs uninstaller.

The other method I use (more often) is "scanreg/restore" from within DOS for it's simplicity and total effectiveness.

Windows will retain the last 5 good starting registries. The newest one will always be dated the same day that you are using the PC.

Here's my scenario: I started the PC this morning. I found a program I think is worth installing and don't think it will mess me up too much. I find I was wrong. All of a sudden my Windows will no longer minimize. I did not use either of the two programs mentioned to monitor it's installation.

I uninstall the program.
I Restart in DOS mode.
At the prompt I type "scanreg/restore" without the quotation marks and hit Enter.

From the appearing dialog box I select the registry dated today.
When completed I get back to Windows with everything as it was this morning.

By habit I now will only install one program per day (or per restore) to avoid too many changes that I will not be able to attribute to a specific program's installation.

Every few months I go to regedit, click on 'My Computer' to highlight it and then go to Registry, Export and save it including the date as part of the name. This is a large file but I can use this for reference later.
For example: A couple of weeks ago Comcast took control of my ATTBI ISP account. Using their transition wizard they removed my IE branding that I liked. I did not want to change everything back. Just the branding. I went to the old file copied the information in the appropriate key and placed it in my current reistry file. It worked out good.

HTH
Bryan

Bryan;
Thank you for your response. It was quite helpful, and truly appreciated. JimmieC,

Registry backups are not limited to 5. You can edit the scanreg.ini file and save as many as 99 backups, for the truly paranoid.

Hi all,

This is the update I promised you this morning. I feel the 'regedit' method would better serve me with my limited knowledge of computers and for what I actually need a "registry backup" for in the first place. Now, the way I understand the instructions to use the 'regedit' method would be:

(1) Make a new folder and put it in 'C' drive (I have already done this and I named it "Registry Backup"

(2) Go to Start - Run - and type in 'Regedit', click 'OK', then click on 'Registry' on the top of the next window, then click on 'Export Registry File'.

(3) Then on the 'Save In' line I would select 'C' Drive (my main hard drive), in the open window below this line I would double click on my new folder -- Registry Backup. This would put this folder's name on the 'Save In' line. On the 'Name File' line I would call my first Registry Backup RBU72703 meaning Registry Backup July 27, 2003. For any Future backups I would just change the date.

(4) Under 'Save as type' I would let 'Registration Files' on this line.

(5) Under 'Export Range' I would ensure "all" is checked.
(6) I would then save my registry by clicking 'Save'.

Then, if I messed up something in the registry I would simply go to my 'Registry Backup' folder, open it and DOUBLE CLICK on the entry for the appropriate registry backup date.

Now, it is my understanding, that by double clicking this entry this way that it automatically restores my corrupted registry to whatever it was on the date I saved it. Am I correct on this assumption?

Out of curiousity could I go to this same Registry Backup setting, right click and click on 'Open' just to see what is on it without actually resoring the registry? In other words do I have to DOUBLE Click the entry to actually restore?

Another question is if I have to use one of my saved 'Registry backup' settings can I REUSE this same setting a second time if the need arises or is it a case of "you use it once and you lose it"?

And, finally, on the M/S link that Tufenuf referenced on this thread's opening reply, M/S recommend making a copy of your registry backups on a Hard Drive besides the one where your original registry settings are located. With this in mind, I copied the same Folder I put on 'C' Drive and put it on my 'D'Drive too. Then any registry backups I make I would copy them from my 'C' folder and put them in the 'D' drive look-a-like too. Does this copying make sense or am I wasting my time?

Didn't mean to drag this reply out this long, but I figure if I am going to learn how to successfully back up and then restore a corrupted entry I want to make sure I know what I am doing.

Once again, I thank everyone for their much appreciated recommendations and the time you have devoted in trying to enlighten me on this extremely important subject.

I wait for your response. Thanks and Regards ... Phil

By an amazing quirk of chance I have just had an email from somebody (who found my old posting) asking for my batch files.

It's this one (I'd long since forgotten):
http://computing.net/windows95/wwwboard/forum/107315.html

I have them in a zip file with a write up, so if anyone wants them just email me (address in the above link). Note expecting much response because until you've used them you probably don't fully appreciate their advantage.

Derek

Report Offensive Follow Up For Removal

Hi Phil, hi everyone,

A very exciting subject! thanks Phil! thanks Bryan! thanks everyone!
Already 1+17 posts... I guess this thread will reach several dozens as it is very important and rather subtle!

To begin with ("begin" LOL!), I would like to point out big differences between Ws95 and Ws98 (don't forget Phil runs Windows 95 and some posts speak about Windows 98!):
- Standard Windows 95:
--- only 1 set of basic backups named C:\Windows\System.da0 and C:\Windows\User.da0
--- backup everytime you start Windows... if you have some trouble and restart Windows, the .da0 files will be overwritten!
--- very unsatisfactory!!!
- Standard Windows 98:
--- 5 sets of backups stored in C:\Windows\SYSBCKUP
--- System.ini, Win.ini, System.dat & User.dat are saved and compressed into 1 file named rb00x.cab (x=0 to 4)
--- as dave01 stated it, you can edit C:\Windows\Scanreg.ini to increase the number of backups beyond 5
--- only one backup per day (1st Windows start of the day)... if you restart Windows after some trouble, no other backup is performed! you don't waste a number!

HTH

Have a good day,
Gérard from Paris, France

Hi Derek, hi everyone,

Derek, thanks a lot for your so helpful batch files! very, very important! thanks a lot! ;-)

Have a good day,
Gérard from Paris, France

Hi everyone,

so behind with Bryan's excellent post and Phil's excellent questions that I don't know where to begin! ;-)

Well, I won't comment on anyone but myself! ;-)

I would like to say that a good Registry backup is not a panacea!
- Yes, much key information is stored in system backups!
- but disturbances can be elsewhere:
--- Registry is a mess! rules by MicroSoft are not followed! some settings are stored in .ini files (outside the Registry)
--- installing a program sometimes leads to .DLLs alteration without appropriate behavior (incompatibility, poor programming, replacement by older version, etc.)
--- uninstalling a program doesn't lead to clean former state (Registry and DLLs)

Being ready to restore Registry doesn't solve any problem... that's why, Win-ME, XP have a different system!

Have a good day,
Gérard from Paris, France

Hi JimmieC, hi everyone,

I'm going to try to respond your post #12:
>When running Windows 98se, is it necessary
>to have an additional registry back-up
>besides the five (5) that are automatically
>saved?
-> As Derek stated it, it's useful/necessary to add some prudent behavior (an install per day, not more!) along with additional backups
-> Consider MicroSoft's 5-backup-system as a good basic one but better is to design your own backup system according to your needs!
Read my post #20 about Registry backup not being a panacea! other "dangers" (source of troubles) outside Registry!

>The method I am referring to is exporting
>the registry to the desktop with the date
>of transfer included.
-> An advantage of exported .REG files as registry backups is the possibility to easily extract somes parts of the file in order to fix a specific problem (and keep some newly installed items).
-> Another advantage is to easily give a specific name and location
-> A drawback is that .reg exported files need an empty "registry" to be used as restoration files because such .reg files with create or replace keys/values/data but not delete any (problems with newly added keys)!
-> I will add that "merge" as the default option is dangerous (many users just double click to see what this file can be!!!); I keep changing default option to "Edit" and merging then needs to right click and select.

>Can the OS be disabled to the point that
>one is not able to retrieve any of the five saved, but the exported version is
>available?
Yes! with your own backups, you can choose to keep old backups corresponding to stable systems!

Again, MicroSoft tried to improve things with Win-ME and XP!
The best solution probably is to burn regular CDs (Ghosts) that will permit to save everything from Registry to DLLs to programs... restoring a ghost, you are sure to get your entire system back to a former state you know (restoring Registry, you aren't!)

HTH

Have a good day,
Gérard from Paris, France

Phil, You r procedure is correct.

"Now, it is my understanding, that by double clicking this entry this way that it automatically restores my corrupted registry to whatever it was on the date I saved it. Am I correct on this assumption?"

Unfortunately no.
Let's say your backed up registry file contained items 1,2 and 3(to keep it simple). Since that backup you have added programs that have added items 4, 5 and 6.

"Merging" the backed up file will only return items 1, 2 and 3 but will not delete newer items 4, 5 and 6. They will be in there.
With a backed up .reg file you can only "merge" (or mix) the information into the current registry file.
This. reg file is not your copies of System.dat and User.dat that is the actual registry.
Do not confuse the terms merge with restore.
Restore will actually replace the current registry with the one you are restoring. Merge will only combine or add the information with the current registry as it exists.

Since Win95 only uses or creates one copy of the registry (I did not know that) then you would be best to keep that in mind when installing questionable programs.
Make sure you are starting the day with a good system that you can restore to.

Merging .reg files is good when you want to implement a tweak. You can merge it into the registry with a .reg file. But again, you are only adding information to the registry. You are not removing or replacing information with a .reg file (unless the .reg file is designed to do that by intent).

"Then any registry backups I make I would copy them from my 'C' folder and put them in the 'D' drive look-a-like too. Does this copying make sense or am I wasting my time?"

Wasting time, no. Wasting space, yes. If your C: and D: partitions are on the same drive then if you can get to one then you can get to the other.
If you have more than one hard drive then placing it on the second would be the better location.

So, to break it down...make a .reg file for referencing incase of a change that needs to be returned to the way you had it on a particular registry key.

Use scanreg/restore to replace the currect registry with one that is a known good one to you.
If you can create more than one known good registry as suggested earlier then that may be useful for options like I did not realize the problem existed until two days later when I tried to _______. In this case the stored known good registry would have been this morning's which was the same as yesterday's which also was not what you wanted. Without more tham one choice to restore to then having the backed up copy could be used to determine 'what was the good key's values.

JimmieC, you are welcome.

Derek, I may have to try your batch file although I do not find the need to restore much.

Bryan

Hi everyone,

... other drawbacks to exporting the registry:
-> more space taken than regular rb00n.cab
-> System.ini and Win.ini are not backed up

HTH

Have a good day,
Gérard from Paris, France

Bryco and all,

Thanks for the added imput. So if I understand you correctly, the way I presented it in my last post would give me a "registry backup" and a way to restore it to the way it was when I MADE the backup. Is this correct?

And, you also gave an example that if I downloaded a program after making the backup that none of this information or any of the changes it produced would be restored. This I understand.

The only time I would really attempt to go into the registry would be to follow step by step directions about how to solve specific problems I might be having. In a nutshell, what I am saying is I would make the 'backup' immediately prior to going in and making the recommended changes. My understanding then is if I mess my change up
I will be able to restore the original item the way it was prior to my messing it up. True or false?

Thanks for all the continuing help. Regards ... Phil

A further tid bit to those batches of mine.

Firstly I never save a registry unless it has proved OK and "booted up to it".

Secondly, in the write-up I advocate also copying them to sub-folders, with a Note showing the installed state at the time. In the unlikely event that I have to go back beyond the latest save, I re-create the installed state at that time as closely as possible.

I regard matching saved registry's to their associated installed state as more than desireable. It is less easy to ensure this with scanreg /restore (because Windows effectively does it in the background).

Derek

Phil,
"Thanks for the added imput. So if I understand you correctly, the way I presented it in my last post would give me a "registry backup" and a way to restore it to the way it was when I MADE the backup. Is this correct?"

Not exactly. You would have everything that was found in the Backup in addition to any newly added items by a newly installed program. The backup will not undo additions to the registry made by an install.

"My understanding then is if I mess my change up
I will be able to restore the original item the way it was prior to my messing it up. True or false?"

True, but you do not need to back up the entire registry. Only the key that you modify. The entire registry can be about 10mb in size but a single will only be 5kb or so.

So, if you are messing with a single key then back up that key only.

Okay, I have a question. Does all of this apply to Win95 as it does with Win98? I do not know the answer to that question. I thought I saw here that scanreg/restore "can" be available in Win95 (assuming that it is, otherwise, not available) I can not find that statement. Perhaps I had seen it elsewhere.

Derek, I copid that part ("booted up to it") of your referenced post too. I have a lot of faith in WhitPhil's recommendations.

Phil, With what you are trying to do I think you would be best to go with Derek's batch file suggestion. Those "backups" would restore your registry to how you saved it rather than just merging information back into it with the .reg file unless you are just messing with a particular key that you back up first.

HTH
Bryan

My turn...

G'day Phil, glad you took my advice on posting this and also glad you didn't rush into anything too.

First I gotta ask, do you have the Windows 95 CD because on it is a Registry backup/restore utility that is very easy to use. It is called Cfgback.exe and is found in the \Other\Misc\Cfgback folder on the CD.

It can be run from the CD or copied to anywhere on your HD and can save up to 9 configurations of your Registry. It will place a regback.ini and a REGBACK1.rbk file in the Windows folder [REGBACK2. REGBACK3. etc... depending how many times you back up]. This program should not be used while online or interrupted whilst doing it's thing, either backing up or restoring. If you do not have the disc, Cfgback.exe can be found easily on the net, Microsoft used to have it to download but not sure now. It does NOT work in DOS.

I swear by this program and have used it all these years for 95 and it has saved my buttocks many-a-time.

All the other answers are very good too so as I said, there are many ways to back up your Registry and all should save you one way or the other in times of trouble.

You may be interested to know what you are actually backing up. Well, the two files System.dat and User.dat are actually the Registry branches Hkey_Local_Machine and Hkey_Current_User respectfully and all the other branches are just links for easier editing in the Registry. Hkey_Dyn_Data is never backed up as that is created by *.vxd files anyway when rebooting.

The file C:\System.1st is your first Registry after a Windows Setup and can also be copied back as System.dat in Dos mode but will not contain anything installed after a setup, it's basic installation data.

You can backup individual registry keys too such as extension keys thus saving you going thru making them all over again. I have over 400 extensions I created on one big *.reg file kept in a safe place and never have to make them all again, I just double-click and they all work. There are hundreds of settings and such that can be saved this way.

And by the way, when export [saving] a registry key, or the whole Registry, never use a space in the path or file name as "Reggie' might not let you restore or merge. What I mean is the folder you created to save to, Registry Backup, should be named at least Registry_Backup with no space, same for the file names for *.reg files.

The best time to save a Registry no matter how you do it is after a format and complete install of Windows, hardware and software and personal settings etc...

And as for Scanreg, forget it for 95 as it may cause problems, it did for me, as it's for 98 onwards.

If you do have the CD there is the Windows 95 Resource Kit in the folder \Admin\Reskit which can also guide you about restoring System.dat and/or User.dat from the Dos prompt [no one seems to have mentioned that the attribs for these files have to be changed] plus other stuff too.

Good luck with this one Phil

Ronnie and all others still hanging in here,

Welcome to the 'fray' Ronnie. I have been leaning towards the 'regedit' backup method, but your confidence in and description of the 'Cfgback.exe' has my attention too.

A few questions if I might pester everyone and yourself a little more.

First, I do have the Win95 CD disc and I also found the MS site where you can download 'Cfgback.exe'. My biggest concern is, if with my limited computer knowledge (which you are well aware of), would I be able to master it? Since it is a program, does it come with a help file or anything you can read on it? You also said it would place these REGBACK files in the Window folder. Is the folder you are referring to the one I created and named "Registry_Backup"?

Also, I have two hard drives. 'C' Drive is my main drive and then I have a larger drive which a tech partitioned (I think that is what you call it) into two 2GB drives. Windows is located on my 'C' drive, can I download this 'Cfgbback.exe' unto my 'D' drive or does it have to go on the same drive as the location of Windows? And, would it be best to keep my 'Registry_Backup' folder on "C' or 'D' drive?

Sorry about all these questions which probably seem pretty stupid to you and everyone else, but I just want to make sure I really understand what I am doing. I still have more, but they depend on what answers I get to the above questions.

Once again, thanks to everyone trying to enlighten myself. Regards ... Phil

Hi Bryan, hi everyone,

(response #22)
>Use scanreg/restore to replace the currect
>registry with one that is a known good one
>to you.
Bryan, I'm not quite sure as I don't have Windows 95 around but I think scanreg/restore doesn't exist in Windows 95.

Have a good day,
Gérard from Paris, France

Hi Ronnie, Phil, hi everyone,

Ronnie... thanks for your post "Response #27"! I learned oodles of things! :-0 thank you!
- "Cfgback.exe"... never read anything about this program! that would have been wonderful!
- "Hkey_Dyn_Data is never backed up as that is created by *.vxd files anyway when rebooting"... really? never backed up? is it Win95 only or is it the same with Ws98, 2000, XP?
- "C:\System.1st"... OK for the confirmation of what I wrote in response #11
- "And by the way, when export [saving] a registry key, or the whole Registry, never use a space in the path or file name as "Reggie' might not let you restore or merge." What about avoiding file names longer than 8 characters? as we have to often deal with such files in Dos... could be a trap to use too long files names with these Regist~n!

Thanks again for your post, Ronnie!

Have a good night (Australia),
Gérard from Paris, France

Hi Phil, hi everyone,

Phil, I prefer Ronnie to answer your questions as he does know about Cfgback.exe and Windows 95!

>Sorry about all these questions which
>probably seem pretty stupid to you and
>everyone else
On the contrary Phil! I must thank you for this thread! you ask clever questions and I enjoy exchanging on the subject and learning new things and reading other points of view!

A very exciting thread!

Have a good day,
Gérard from Paris, France

Gérard

Just to confirm that you are quite right about lack of scanreg /restore on W95.

You have to restore from system.da0 and user.da0 using DOS. Unfortunately if you have tried to reboot in the meantime you will probably have had it, because the .da0's are just a single back-up and easily overwritten by booting.

The batch file idea works for W95 & W98, as you can see it's painfully simple really. I'd never heard of the W95 Cfgback that Ronnie suggested. You live and learn.

Derek

Oh yes, just one word of warning...

One bright day, yonks ago, I thought I would be clever and simply copy over the relevant scanreg files from W98 to W95. Fine, I used scanreg /fix once or twice and it sorted out some problems.

On a not so bright day I did scanreg /fix on the W95 and it wasn't able to. It then proceeded to try to restore W95 but to W98 style. All hell broke out (the computer behaving something like the cross between an elephant and a camel). Somehow I managed to sort this out - with a pool of sweat under the machine.

There IS a way to do this (publicised somewhere on this site, and on a website or two). BUT, it involves altering the registry to make the whole W98 restore process work properly on W95. That's probably fine - but don't do what I did for goodness sake.

Derke

Hi Derek,

Thanks for your post!

With such events, I understand you learned a lot about backups and restores! LOL

Have a good day,
Gérard from Paris, France

Gérard

Someone once said that experience is what you get having made mistakes (probably not too far off the truth LOL). If you can learn from other folks mistakes that's much better...great forum!

Derek

G'day Phil [and the rest of you guys], never apologise for asking very relevent questions regarding the Registry, besides we regulars need the work.

First, Cfgback.exe can be placed ANYWHERE on your system and the furtherer away from C:\ the better, so yes, put it in Drive D:.

Second, the Regback1.rbk files go only in C:\Windows as this is where the program places them to restore them, never rename any [file]
either.

Third, mastering Cfgback.exe is nothing, all you do is select the backup button and give it a name, any name as this goes into the Regback.ini file. To restore you just select the backup you saved and press the restore button. The restore will take affect upon a reboot as most of these types of programs do but in your own time, not straight away.

I always make my first backup after installing Windows, my hardware and software, extensions, some registry deletions that I don't want and other settings I have as *.reg files as well. I call this backup Post Format with the date.

Anything I forgot to do before that I will make a new backup and then delete the first one until I'm satisfied. This first backup stays as is regardless of additional software installed and then I create new backups for those.

Also remember Cfgback will not work in Dos mode so backing up System.dat and User.dat and learning to put them back via Dos is also essential, it is a backup, backup. Regedit also works in Dos but I've never used it to do anything so I don't know if it does a complete recovery or partial [There's also a recovery program on the CD too called ERU that you could look at as well]

Fourthly, yes, by all means keep all your stuff on another drive as it very rare that any drive apart from your system drive [C:] will ever need to be formatted. This is an absolute must in my book no matter how big one's HD is, multiple partitions are the safest bet. Smaller *.reg files can be saved to a floppy as well.

I hope that covers it for now, and now for Frenchie's Q's.

The info I got on Hkey_Dyn_Data is straight out of a Win95 book on the Registry and to prove the point one day, I deleted Hk_D_D from the Registry, rebooted, and there is was back safe'n'sound where it should be without any problems [naturally I was backed up 7 ways to Sunday]. XP does not have this branch [Hive as XP calls it now]. I did this also in 98,ME and the 'pro'

Also *.reg files can have long names as well but no spaces, but hyphens or underscores are accepted. And Dos is Dos so I think we are stuck with the tildas [~] and naming files should not have any similarities in the first 6 chars if possable.

Well Phil there's a lot to mull over about the Registry [I call it 'the central nervous system of Windows'] and I hope you don't get too confused, take it one thing at a time. I'm someone will have some more about it too.

Thanks for your kind answers, Ronnie!

Have a good day,
Gérard from Paris, France

Ronnie and all,

Great post and, as usual, an excellent presentation of valuable information.

Ronnie: Here are a few questions your last post triggered in my 'aging' grey matter:

(1) You said --"The restore will take affect upon a reboot as most of these types of programs do but in your own time, not straight away." -- could you explain what you are talking about -- straight time vs your own time?

(2) You said --"Second, the Regback1.rbk files go only in C:\Windows as this is where the program places them to restore them, never rename any [file]
either." -- By this do you mean that the folder I have already created (Registry_Backup)is not needed because any backups will go into this Regback1.rbk file on C:\Windows?

(3) In Post #27 you said -- "It will place a regback.ini and a REGBACK1.rbk file in the Windows folder [REGBACK2. REGBACK3. etc... what is the difference between 'regback.ini and REGBACK1.rbk? Which one would I actually go to if I wanted to access and then restore a saved registry backup?

(4) Since I am now leaning towards using this Cfgback.exe method do you feel it would help me to understand its workings better if I had it right here in front of me where I could have 'hands on' training (as long as I don't hit the "restore" button ...lol)?

That's all for now. Thanks and Regards ... Phil

Ok Phil, the restore needs to have the computer reboot so it can load the restored registry because Windows won't let you do it otherwise because the present registry files are in use [System.dat and User.dat].

You can still have your Registry_Backup folder for what ever *.reg files you may save from Regedit, it's just that the program is directed to place it's files in C:\Windows and no where else or they won't work from another location. But you can save copies of the *.rbk files to your folder if you like as a precaution.

The Regback.ini [can be opened in Notepad] just records what time/date etc... what you are backing up and should never be edited. It is not the actual backup but is needed. Your backup names appear in this file as they appear in the program. The Regback1.rbk is what you just backed up and can go up to Regback9.rbk if you back up that many times.

This program is also good for multiple users of any 95/98 machine and each person can have different settings that they can restore if they don't like someone else's settings.

All you have to do now is open Cfgback and create a backup, give it a name [any name] and wait a few minutes for it to backup and if your system has problems later on some day you can select that backup name and after waiting a few moments it will tell you that your backup configuration has been restored and to reboot for it to take affect.

And for those who don't know, it works in 98 but does not do to well in ME and definately won't work in 2000/XP as their registry files are different but there is a similar program for that [ERUNT.exe] which I swear by as well.

It's a very simple program to use.

Anyway Phil, good luck.

Hi Ronnie and everyone still following this post,

Excellent answers and well presented too. I still have this one 'unanswered question' in this aging 61-year-old grey matter of mine.

Ronnie, in your last post, you said: "All you have to do now is open Cfgback and create a backup, give it a name [any name] and wait a few minutes for it to backup and if your system has problems later on some day you can select that backup name and after waiting a few moments it will tell you that your backup configuration has been restored and to reboot for it to take affect."

I guess I am getting hung up on "names" for some reason. Once I open Cfgback.exe and create a backup, where does 'my named backup' go? As an example, say I name it '1rbu', does this name go to the 'Regback.ini' file?

I guess I am getting confused as to why you give your backups names when the program already names them "Regback1.rbk ...Regback2.rbk ...etc."

If you click on your "Regback.rbk" files to restore your registry, then what purpose does it serve when you name each backup with a name of your choosing?

Hope I made this clear enough and that I am not making a 'mountain out of a mole hill'.

Thanks to all for hanging in here.

Regards,

Phil

G'day Phil, you name the backup from Cfgback which in turn records it in the regback.ini file. This is for the user to know which backup is which. Cfgback then saves these backups as *.rbk files so you must restore from Cfgback but not directly from the file.

When you open the program you will see two blank boxes, the small text box is where you type the name of your backup. After it backs up your backup name will then appear in the list box below and to restore you simply highlight that name and press restore. The name of your backup goes into the *.ini file along with the date and time the backup was created.

So yes, your 1rbu goes into the regback.ini file and that is the name of your backup from the program's point of view and then it gives it it's own file for that backup.

Cfgback.exe creates the REGBACK1.rbk as the first backup you have created. It compresses your registry and can only be restored thru the program. These files are nothing like *.reg files nor do they have anything to do with Regedit, maybe that's where you were getting confused.

This is my Regback.ini for 98 :

------------
[File1]
FileDescription=Post Format 25 June 2003
Date=6/25/103

[File2]
FileDescription=28- June 2003
Date=6/28/103

[File3]
FileDescription=
Date=

[File4]
FileDescription=
Date=

[File5]
FileDescription=
Date=

[File6]
FileDescription=
Date=

[File7]
FileDescription=
Date=

[File8]
FileDescription=
Date=

[File9]
FileDescription=
Date=

[StartWizard]
Show=0
-------------

[File1] is REGBACK1.rbk and [File2] is REGBACK2.rbk. These are the only two backups I have so far.

The Start Wizard is just the welcome dialog boxes that you get when starting the program for the first time, I have checked them to never show. The year, for some odd reason shows as 103, don't know why but that's what it is for this year.

Well I'm done here [I think] so good luck and try it, it's easy and safe .

Hi all .

I find this batch file ( cabrest ) together with the special file W95 file rbrutk95.zip
do the job perfectly .

The full article is here .
http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/regback1.html

An extract at the bottom of the above article that deals with the extra file needed for 95 is this .

And For You Die-Hard Windows 95 Users

File is rbrutk95.zip

Unfortunately none of this will work in Windows 95, unless you use our Special PC911 Registry Backup & Restore Upgrade Tool Kit for Windows 95. We've assembled all the files needed to enable you to use Windows 98 tools for backup and restoration of your Windows 95 Registry. Actually it's very simple, just a matter of copying some files and then running one REG file, so there's no reason not to do it. There are just six easy steps:
Download the Special PC911 Registry Backup & Restore Upgrade Tool Kit for Windows 95 to an empty temporary directory.

===========================================

Print this & stick it on the computor or in a very visable place , preferably at eye level .

Toggle F8 ( when , verifying DMI pool message comes on ) or Press
Ctrl during bootup , depends on your computer .

Select , Command prompt only . ( NOT Safe mode Command prompt )

Type in cabrest & press Enter , keep answering y & you will see a table , which will allow you to select which CAB file to restore from . So , for example ,
to restore from rb009 cab , you look at the table & see 09 corresponds to the letter j . You type j & Not the number . Follow instructions .

Type win & press Enter ( or ctrl , alt , delete ) to exit .

If after following the instructions to Restore , things arn't still working , go to an earlier date & try again .

Type win & press Enter ( or ctrl , alt , delete ) to exit .

Hi everyone,

Right clicking on a .reg file, you have the option to merge the .reg file with the Registry (often default option ie option run by double click).

I would like to say I learned new information about Regedit lately!

Dos command regedit /c does create a new registry, erasing the old one so:

Restoring a .reg file from Dos with the /C switch REGEDIT /C FILENAME.REG will create a NEW Registry - no problem with additional keys (keys that are not in the .reg file).

Have a good day,
Gérard from Paris, France

Hi Frenchie, RR and all,

I finally took the plunge. Right now I have decided to go with the 'regedit' export method of backing up the registry. I was all ready to go with Win95's own 'cfgbk.exe'
until I went to install it and this MOS-DOS screen popped up warning me not to install it in the Windows folder. It asked me if I wanted to go ahead and extract the files. Not knowing what to do next, I hit N, enter and got out of there.

I backed up my first registry today, named it RBU8103 (Registry Backup August 8, 2003) and put it in my Registry_Backup folder on C drive. I hope I never have to use it, but just in case, am I correct in assuming that if the need arises where I have to restore my registry, I just go to my folder, open it and then double click on the RBU8103 file and the restore process starts?

Once I am sure this is the correct procedure, I am going to move my folder from my C Drive to my D drive. That way the restore won't be on the same drive as the original registry settings

I like how easy it is to use the export method. Now that I have one backed up, I want to make sure I know what I am doing if the time ever comes to 'restore' it.

I am still interested in 'cfgbk.exe'. But I want to know what happens after I tell the MOS-DOS screen that I want to go ahead and extract the files. Does it give me a chance to tell it where I want the program installed or what?

Thanks and Regards ... Phil

The name you give it should have a .reg extension (assuming you are set to show extensions - I wouldn't live any other way).

To import the registry you do just simply double click the .reg file and follow the prompts.

Remember though that this does not "replace" the registry, only "merge" what you have exported. What if the corruption still remains?

That's why I like my batch files (oh no not all that again). They save the registry plus win.ini & system.ini just as MS do. To save you just double click a file, to get the registry back (a full replacement) you just "shut down" to DOS and type regpaste and the machine re-boots with the saved registry.

Thorougly tested on W95/98 so if you want the .zip follow the link in #17 (email given). Sounds a heck of a lot more reliable and simple than what you are trying to do.

Derek