Sometimes the recovery from fatal errors requires that you copy files, such as SOFTWARE from c:\windows\repair into C:\windows\system32\config. I have noticed that the files in \repair are considerably out of date. This means that when they are used to recover a system the configuration is set back quite a few months. Does anyone know how these files are updated and when? I'm thinking of just replacing these files with the ones in config once in a while, but I'm afraid of screwing something up. I can't seem to locate any info on this.

----------------------- IGNORE - REQUEST REPOST ----------------------- In order to help you, I need more information. For example: What are you trying to update these files for? Is something wrong with your system to be causing you to do it? Is there something else you aren't telling us? Because you just made it sound like (to me) that you have some software that is old and you need to do this for - I dont know, i'm lost. ----------------------- IGNORE - REQUEST REPOST -----------------------

check support.microsoft.com Q307545 - This will explain why/how they are used

Thanks for the link, Bubba. From that I got the answer that those files are created at system istallation time. I was hoping that they would be updated automatically, but I guess it isn't so. Joe, the reason I would like a recent copy of the config files located in the repair folder is because if you ever have to use them it wouldn't set your system configuration back to the installation date. I have had two crashes because of faulty memory modules and had to use the recovery console. It took me quite some time to reconfigure my system.

Thanks for the posts, warren and Bubba Otis. I hadn't realized that they'd changed the registry back procedure yet again. I sure miss being able to do a rdisk /s. Somethings about backing up the System State that I noticed. You should go into the Advance options and turn off the "Automatically backup System Protected files with the system state". Otherwise it wants to backup 1,970 odd other files (backed up 80 MB before I stopped it). While it was supposed to back up the boot files, why didn't it back up the boot.ini while it was at it (maybe because it can default passed it?). And what's with the backing up of that empty MachineKeys folder buried in the Docs & Settings of the AllUser account?

I was wrong about the repair procedure putting the system back to installation time. Once you have copied the files from the \repair folder you can then update the system by 'restoring to a previous date'. This should get your system pretty close to when you crashed.