Re: Messed up editing registry, need previous values

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First:
How to recover from a borked registry:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B307545

Download Guided Help

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Manual steps to recover a corrupted registry that
prevents Windows XP from starting
The procedure that this article describes uses Recovery
Console and System Restore. This article also lists all
the required steps in specific order to make sure that
the process is fully completed. When you finish this
procedure, the system returns to a state very close to
the state before the problem occurred. If you have ever
run NTBackup and completed a system state backup, you
do not have to follow the procedures in parts two and
three. You can go to part four.
Part one
In part one, you start the Recovery Console, create a
temporary folder, back up the existing registry files
to a new location, delete the registry files at their
existing location, and then copy the registry files
from the repair folder to the System32\Config folder.
When you have finished this procedure, a registry is
created that you can use to start Windows XP. This
registry was created and saved during the initial setup
of Windows XP. Therefore any changes and settings that
occurred after the Setup program was finished are lost.

To complete part one, follow these steps:
1.Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy
disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the
CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.
Click to select any options that are required to start
the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted
to do so.
2.When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R
to start the Recovery Console.
3.If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer,
select the installation that you want to access from
the Recovery Console.
4.When you are prompted to do so, type the
Administrator password. If the administrator password
is blank, just press ENTER.
5.At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the
following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each
line:
md tmp
copy c:\windows\system32\config\system
c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\software
c:\windows\tmp\software.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam
c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\security
c:\windows\tmp\security.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\default
c:\windows\tmp\default.bak

delete c:\windows\system32\config\system
delete c:\windows\system32\config\software
delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam
delete c:\windows\system32\config\security
delete c:\windows\system32\config\default

copy c:\windows\repair\system
c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software
c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam
c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security
c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\repair\default
c:\windows\system32\config\default
6.Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer
will restart.

Note This procedure assumes that Windows XP is
installed to the C:\Windows folder. Make sure to change
C:\Windows to the appropriate windows_folder if it is a
different location.

If you have access to another computer, to save time,
you can copy the text in step five, and then create a
text file called "Regcopy1.txt" (for example). To use
this file, run the following command when you start in
Recovery Console:
batch regcopy1.txt
With the batch command in Recovery Console, you can
process all the commands in a text file sequentially.
When you use the batch command, you do not have to
manually type as many commands.
Part two
To complete the procedure described in this section,
you must be logged on as an administrator, or an
administrative user (a user who has an account in the
Administrators group). If you are using Windows XP Home
Edition, you can log on as an administrative user. If
you log on as an administrator, you must first start
Windows XP Home Edition in Safe mode. To start the
Windows XP Home Edition computer in Safe mode, follow
these steps.

Note Print these instructions before you continue. You
cannot view these instructions after you restart the
computer in Safe Mode. If you use the NTFS file system,
also print the instructions from Knowledge Base article
KB309531. Step 7 contains a reference to the article.
1.Click Start, click Shut Down (or click Turn Off
Computer), click Restart, and then click OK (or click
Restart).
2.Press the F8 key.

On a computer that is configured to start to multiple
operating systems, you can press F8 when you see the
Startup menu.
3.Use the arrow keys to select the appropriate Safe
mode option, and then press ENTER.
4.If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, use
the arrow keys to select the installation that you want
to access, and then press ENTER.

In part two, you copy the registry files from their
backed up location by using System Restore. This folder
is not available in Recovery Console and is generally
not visible during typical usage. Before you start this
procedure, you must change several settings to make the
folder visible:
1.Start Windows Explorer.
2.On the Tools menu, click Folder options.
3.Click the View tab.
4.Under Hidden files and folders, click to select Show
hidden files and folders, and then click to clear the
Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)
check box.
5.Click Yes when the dialog box that confirms that you
want to display these files appears.
6.Double-click the drive where you installed Windows XP
to display a list of the folders. If is important to
click the correct drive.
7.Open the System Volume Information folder. This
folder is unavailable and appears dimmed because it is
set as a super-hidden folder.

Note This folder contains one or more _restore {GUID}
folders such as
"_restore{87BD3667-3246-476B-923F-F86E30B3E7F8}".

Note You may receive the following error message:
C:\System Volume Information is not accessible. Access
is denied.
If you receive this message, see the following
Microsoft Knowledge Base article to gain access to this
folder and continue with the procedure:
309531 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309531/) How to
gain access to the System Volume Information folder
8.Open a folder that was not created at the current
time. You may have to click Details on the View menu to
see when these folders were created. There may be one
or more folders starting with "RPx under this folder.
These are restore points.
9.Open one of these folders to locate a Snapshot
subfolder. The following path is an example of a folder
path to the Snapshot folder:
C:\System Volume
Information\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}\RP1\Snapshot
10.From the Snapshot folder, copy the following files
to the C:\Windows\Tmp folder:
•_REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT
•_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
•_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
•_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
•_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM

11.Rename the files in the C:\Windows\Tmp folder as
follows:
•Rename _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT to DEFAULT
•Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY to SECURITY
•Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE to SOFTWARE
•Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM to SYSTEM
•Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM to SAM


These files are the backed up registry files from
System Restore. Because you used the registry file that
the Setup program created, this registry does not know
that these restore points exist and are available. A
new folder is created with a new GUID under System
Volume Information and a restore point is created that
includes a copy of the registry files that were copied
during part one. Therefore, it is important not to use
the most current folder, especially if the time stamp
on the folder is the same as the current time.

The current system configuration is not aware of the
previous restore points. You must have a previous copy
of the registry from a previous restore point to make
the previous restore points available again.

The registry files that were copied to the Tmp folder
in the C:\Windows folder are moved to make sure that
the files are available under Recovery Console. You
must use these files to replace the registry files
currently in the C:\Windows\System32\Config folder. By
default, Recovery Console has limited folder access and
cannot copy files from the System Volume folder.

Note The procedure described in this section assumes
that you are running your computer with the FAT32 file
system. For more information about how to access the
System Volume Information Folder with the NTFS file
system, click the following article number to view the
article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
309531 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309531/) How to
gain access to the System Volume Information folder
Part Three
In part three, you delete the existing registry files,
and then copy the System Restore Registry files to the
C:\Windows\System32\Config folder:
1.Start Recovery Console.
2.At the command prompt, type the following lines,
pressing ENTER after you type each line:
del c:\windows\system32\config\sam

del c:\windows\system32\config\security

del c:\windows\system32\config\software

del c:\windows\system32\config\default

del c:\windows\system32\config\system

copy c:\windows\tmp\software
c:\windows\system32\config\software

copy c:\windows\tmp\system
c:\windows\system32\config\system

copy c:\windows\tmp\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam

copy c:\windows\tmp\security
c:\windows\system32\config\security

copy c:\windows\tmp\default
c:\windows\system32\config\default
Note Some of these command lines may be wrapped for
readability.
3.Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer
restarts.

Note This procedure assumes that Windows XP is
installed to the C:\Windows folder. Make sure to change
C:\Windows to the appropriate windows_folder if it is a
different location.

If you have access to another computer, to save time,
you can copy the text in step two, and then create a
text file called "Regcopy2.txt" (for example). To use
this file, run the following command when you start in
Recovery Console:
batch regcopy2.txt
Part Four
1.Click Start, and then click All Programs.
2.Click Accessories, and then click System Tools.
3.Click System Restore, and then click Restore to a
previous RestorePoint.


Back to the top

REFERENCES
For more information about using Recovery Console,
click the following article numbers to view the
articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
307654 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654/) How to
install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP
216417 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216417/) How to
install the Windows Recovery Console
240831 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/240831/) How to
copy files from Recovery Console to removable media
314058 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058/)
Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console
For more information about System Restore, click the
following article numbers to view the articles in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
306084 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084/) How to
restore the operating system to a previous state in
Windows XP
261716 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/261716/) System
Restore removes files during a restore procedure



Twayne
--?
The latest survey shows that three out of four people
make up 75% of the population.

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