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Registry Backup and Restore

News	See also	Recommended Links	scanreg	Using system restore snapshot	Norton Ghost
Microsoft Registry Tools	Registry browsing and tweaking	Registry Cleaning	Monitoring	Snapshots	Etc

You need periodically backup you registry (preferably daily; those are small backups). There are several method to do this:

Backup using RDilly
Backup using scanreg. This is the easiest one and it can be automated using scripts and scheduler.
Backup using Norton Ghost (this will backup the whole partition, but restore can be of selected files only (you need to do in DOS mode)
You can use system snapshot

Scanreg does not come with windows 2000 but free Windows 2000 Resource Kit Tools has several useful registry related utilities including two specifically designed for backup and restore

REG: This tool enables you to add, change, delete, search, backup, restore, and perform other operations on registry entries from the command prompt or a batch file. It can be used on both local and remote computers. Note: This version of REG is in fact version 1.10 from the NT4 Resource Kit. It works with Windows 2000 but is not the version 2 that comes with the 2000 Reskit and is very much updated and with differing syntax to version 1.10, nor is it the version 3 that comes bundled with Windows XP (Thanks Pete!)
REGBack: Registry Backup - Registry Backup (RegBack) is a tool for backing up the Windows Registry to files without use of a tape drive. RegBack allows you to back up Registry hives while the system is running and has the hive files open.
REGFind: RegFind is a command-line tool with which you can search the Windows 2000 registry for arbitrary data, key names, or value names and optionally replace any of these with new values.
REGINI: Registry Change by Script - This tool uses character-based batch files to add keys to the Windows 2000 registry by specifying a registry script.
REGRest: Registry Restoration - Registry Restoration (RegRest) restores Registry hive files from backups created by RegBack.
Dureg: Registry Size Estimator - Shows how much data is stored in the registry, or in any registry subtree, key, or subkey.

Scanreg

Windows 98 and Windows 2003 have this utility called Windows Registry Checker (scanreg.exe). It can be back ported from Windows 2003 to windows XP, but not to Windows 2000. It creates a backup of system files and registry configuration information (including user account information, protocol bindings, software program settings, and user preferences) BTW "The Last Known Good Configuration" is the same thing as scanreg /fix. It restores the previous registry. See also How to back up, edit, and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003

Files that Windows Registry Checker backs up include:

System.dat
User.dat
System.ini
Win.ini.

You need to customize the configuration file C:\Windows\Scanreg.ini to benefit from this capability. The Scanreg.ini file contains the entries that determine how the Registry Checker tool makes backup copies of your registry. Edit the x values of the settings below.

Backup=x, a value of 1 causes a backup copy of your registry to be made the first time you start your computer on any given day (determined by the system clock). A value of 0 disables the backing up of the registry.
Optimise=x, a value of 1 automatically optimizes your current registry if it contains 500KB+ of unused space. A value of 0 does not automatically optimize your current registry by removing unused space.
MaxBackupCopies=x, use this value to set the maximum amount of registry backups, e.g. a value of 5 saves the last 5 registry backups in the Windows\Sysbckup folder. This value can be between 0 and 99.

NOTE: When you restore a registry backup using Registry Checker for MS- DOS (scanreg), only the five earliest backups are displayed.
BackupDirectory=x, by default this entry does not contain a value, and registry backups are automatically saved in the Windows\Sysbckup folder. If for some reason you wish to change where the backup is stored then use this to do so. E.g. if you want to change it to you D:\Backup directory then you would have BackupDirectory=D:\Backup.

There are several useful articles about using Scanreg.exe or Scanregw.exe:

Command-Line Switches for the Registry Checker Tool
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q184/0/23.asp
How to Customize Registry Checker Tool Settings
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q183/6/03.asp
"Out of Memory" Error Running Scanreg.exe with /Fix or /Restore
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q187/6/80.asp
Registry Checker Continues to Detect Registry Damage
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q186/9/09.asp

Using System Restore Snapshot

How to backup the Windows XP Registry Method 1: Using System Restore

One way to backup the registry is to create a System Restore snapshot. System Restore returns your computer to a previous snapshot without losing recent personal information, such as documents, history lists, favorites, or e-mail. It monitors the computer and many applications for changes and creates restore points. You restore these snapshots when your configuration isn't working. This method is unreliable in case you want to rollback the registry changes made a longtime ago, in which case the System Restore might have purged that particular restore point - due to space constraints or due to a recent system restore point or even a Restore point corruption. Please remember, System Restore points get deleted for many reasons, making it unreliable, especially in the long run.

For more help, see : Creating a System Restore point and Using System Restore to Undo Changes if Problems Occur

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Last modified: March 12, 2019