How to Backup and Restore your System Registry for Master and Slave Drives?
Registry Editor is
an advanced tool for viewing and changing settings in your system registry, a
collection of databases of configuration settings in Microsoft Windows operating
systems, which contains information about how your computer runs. Almost the
entire settings are stored in the registry, like settings for software
programs, hardware devices, user preferences, operating system configurations,
and much more. For example, when you resize an application window, the window
position (x,y points) is stored in the registry so that the
settings are retained permanently. This is just an example, there are much more
data stored in the registry, right from your user account names and passwords
(if configured to be stored).
There used to be two versions of Registry Editor,
regedit and regedt32, but starting with XP they have been incorporated in
Microsoft Registry Editor Version 5.1. Type either name in the [Run] box and
Version 5.1 is what you're going to end up with. The only real disadvantage of
not having regedt32 anymore is the lack of read-only mode in Version 5.1, but
it just means you need to be careful not to make any unintended changes when
browsing through the registry.
Making incorrect
changes in the registry can break your system. It's highly advisable to backup
the registry before editing any portion of it.
Types of
Registry Backups
It's critical that before you do any editing you
make a backup of the current registry. There are different ways of backing up
so let's look at each one individually. Backing up is simply exporting
information from the registry into a file that is saved on your system. When
you invoke the export function you are given a choice of different file types
that can be saved.
Each one of the different file types above plays an
important role in how the data you export is saved. Choosing the wrong type can
give you unexpected results. Understanding each type and when to use it is
essential.
- Registration
Files: The Registration Files option creates a .reg file. This is probably
the most well known file format used for backing up the registry. The
Registration File can be used in two ways. As a text file it can be read
and edited using Notepad outside of Registry Editor. Once the changes have
been made and saved, right clicking the file and using the [Merge] command
adds the changed file back into the registry. If you make additions
to the registry using regedit and then merge the previously saved
Registration File, anything that you've added via regedit
will not be removed, but changes you make to data using regedit that
previously existed in the saved Registration File will be overwritten when
it is merged.
- Registry
Hive Files: Unlike the Registration Files option above, the Registry Hive
Files option creates a binary image of the selected registry key. The image
file is not editable via Notepad nor can you view its contents using a
text editor. However, what the Registry Hive Files format does is
create an image perfect view of the selected key and allow you to import
it back into the registry to ensure any problematic changes you made are
eliminated.
- Text
Files: This option does just as the name suggests. It creates a text file
containing the information in the selected key. It's most useful purpose
is creating a record or snapshot of a key at a particular point in time
that you can refer back to if necessary. It cannot be merged back into the
registry like a Registration File.
- Win9x/NT4
Registration Files: This option creates a .reg file in the same manner
used by the Registration Files option. It's used by previous Windows
versions and serves no purpose in XP unless you want to merge a key from
XP into a previous version of Windows.
Considering the four choices above, the most
effective and safest method of backing up the registry is to use the Registry
Hive Files option. No matter what goes wrong in your editing, importing the
image of the key will eliminate all changes, additions, or other things that
might have occurred.
If you want to edit outside the confines of regedit,
or if you are sure you want your additions to the registry to remain even if
you have to merge, use Registration Files for your backup.
If you just want a copy of the key that can be
referenced using a text editor, but want to eliminate any chance of the file
being accidentally merged back into the registry, use Text Files.
Backing
Up Master Registry
As said, backing up
the registry to reg patch is the most popular method for the registry backup.
It might not be the safest one, but it definitely the most useable ways, since
you can edit the backup file with text editor, which is quite convenient, and you
can easily embed it in the computer registry, updating the system values, as
you are ready for this step. This method is especially helpful if you're making
changes to a specific branch of the registry. To backup a selected key in the
registry, use these steps:
- Click Start, and then click Run.
- In the Open box, type regedit.exe, and
then click OK
- Locate and then click the key that contains the
value that you want to edit
- Right-click on the key and choose Export.
- In the Save in box, select a location where
you want to save the Registration Entries (.reg)
- In the File name box, type a file name, and then click Save.
Now that you've
created a Registry backup for that particular key you can save the REG file in
a safer location in case you want to undo the registry changes made. The same
way you can back up the entire registry.
Restoring a
.REG File Backup
The registry update
is simple and fast no matter if it is for one key, for the branch, or for the
entire system. There are four ways of restoring a .reg file
backup. I want to look at the methods in a bit more detail.
- Method
One - From the Registry Editor menu bar select
File > Import... and then navigate to where the .reg file is saved.
Select the file and click Open. The contents of the .reg file will be
merged into the current registry followed by a confirmation dialog stating
the information in the file has been successfully entered into the
registry. This is a low risk method because it forces you to consciously
select the .reg file you want to import. Hopefully your mind is focused on
the task at hand and the proper .reg file is selected.
- Method
Two - By default, Windows XP is configured so that
when a .reg file is double-clicked it's automatically merged into the
registry. To my way of thinking this is a rather high risk method,
especially if you happen to double-click the wrong .reg file. Fortunately,
this method does present a dialog box that states the name of the .reg
file and asks if you're sure you want to add the contents of the file to
the registry, then waits for your Yes or No confirmation. A Yes response
will generate a confirmation dialog stating the information in the file
has been successfully entered into the registry. Clicking No will end the
process with no information being entered in the registry.
- Method
Three - Navigate to where the .reg file is saved and
right click the file to open the context menu. Select Merge and a dialog
box appears that states the name of the .reg file and asks if you're sure
you want to add the contents of the file to the registry, then waits for
your Yes or No confirmation. A Yes response will generate a confirmation
dialog stating the information in the file has been successfully entered
into the registry. Clicking No will end the process with no information
being entered in the registry.
- Method
Four - Navigate to where the .reg file is saved and
right click the file to open the context menu. Select Open With >
Registry Editor and a dialog box appears that states the name of the .reg
file and asks if you're sure you want to add the contents of the file to
the registry, then waits for your Yes or No confirmation. A Yes response
will generate a confirmation dialog stating the information in the file
has been successfully entered into the registry. Clicking No will end the
process with no information being entered in the registry.
Backing
Up Slave Registry
While backup and restoration of the reg file may not
be the safest way to deal with the registry, it is definitely the easiest and
the most straight-forward approach. However, if you need to work with the
registry, located not on the Master drive the computer is booted from, but on
the internal Slave drive, or on the connected through USB adaptor drive, this
method will not work. So, in this case, you will have to apply the Registry
Hive Files way, mentioned above.
Why do you need to access Slave registry? In most
cases, that is needed for advanced offline registry repair and investigation,
or for getting the required settings after the hard drive crash.
So, start the Windows Registry Editor to load and
edit offline registry databases:
- Click Start, and then click Run.
- In the Open box, type regedit.exe, and
then click OK
- Select the
registry branch you would like to retrieve from the drive and highlight it.
For example, highlight the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE-window and select the root
of the tree.
- In the menu
select "Registry" -> "Load Hive"
- Select the
wanted registry database file:
- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\SYSTEM] (%windir%/system32/config/system)
- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\SOFTWARE] (%windir%/system32/config/software)
- [HKEY_USERS
\.Default] (%windir%/system32/config/default)
- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER]
(%userprofile%/ntuser.dat)
For example, on my
computer, the files I needed for investigation were located at
C:\Wndows\system32\config\software
- When
prompted for a name give it whatever name you like (etc. test1). The name
will be used to create a new node in the tree so you can browse the
offline registry under this label.
- Go to the
newly created node and edit whatever you like, if you access the Slave
registry just to make changes. The changes are written immediately to the
offline registry database. In most cases, you just need to backup newly
appeared node in full, or partially. For simplicity of offline operations,
you can now export it in the reg file, using the method described earlier.
- When finished editing select the newly created node and in the menu select "Registry" -> "Unload Hive"
Sources
and Additional Information:
Posts
