Saving the Registry

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In the November newsletter I mentioned the importance of the registry in Windows and promised to describe a way of backing it up.
Windows ME has facilities which make this quite easy and allow an older registry to be readily restored, but Windows 95 and 98 are not quite so helpful.
The following method is a hands-on way to backup the four important registry files and should work for Windows 95 and 98. It will create a new folder called bkupreg1 and put copies of the important four files in it:- (Windows ME users, see comment at the end).

A.. Make a folder for the backup files to be stored in

1. On an empty part to the desktop, click with the right mouse button, select new, then folder from the drop-down lists.

2. A new folder appears with its name New folder highlighted. Type in the name bkupreg1 and tap Enter. (If you make a mistake you can right click again and select Rename from the drop down list, and have another go).
Drag the new folder to the top right hand corner of the desktop

B.. Find the Registry files and copy them into the new folder

3. Go to Start - Find - Files or Folders to open the File Finder window.

4. In the slot labelled Named type in the file name system.dat
Make sure the slot labelled Look In shows your C: drive listed, then click the button Find Now.
A listing for the file system.dat should appear in the find window below. If there is more than one listing for the file make sure in the following steps that you use the one which is listed as being in the folder C:\Windows

5. Put the mouse pointer over the listed name system.dat and click the right mouse button.
Then select Copy from the drop down list.
Warning: be careful to use Copy (Not Cut) as the original file must be left where it is.

6 Put the mouse pointer over the desktop icon for your new folder bkupreg1, right click and select Paste from the drop down menu to put a copy of the file in your new folder.
(If necessary reduce the size of the Find window if it obscures your new folder).

7 Repeat steps 4 to 6 for the files named user.dat system.ini win.ini

8 Highlight the icon for your new folder bkupreg1 and tap Enter to see its contents
Verify that all four files are there, then close that window again.

C... Move the bkupreg1 folder off the desktop

9. Close file finder window. Click on the My Computer icon and tap Enter to see its contents

10 Make sure you can still see the icon for folder bkupreg1 on the desktop, then put the mouse pointer over that icon, hold down the right mouse button and drag the mouse pointer and the folder icon into the My Computer window. Move it over the icon for your C: drive until that icon is highlighted, then let go the mouse button. Select Move Here from the drop down list.
Check that the folder has been moved into the C: root folder by highlighting the C: drive icon and tapping Enter. You should see the bkupreg1 folder listed there. Close the window.

You will have now saved the registry files relating to the current setup of your computer. If something goes wrong you may not be able to do anything with them yourself, but someone else may be able to help you use them to get your computer working properly again. Make an entry in your computer notebook with the date and location of your registry backup ( ie C:\bkupreg1).

If you later install new software it would be wise to save another registry backup afterwards, as the
files will have changed. Don't overwrite the first set though - you may want to go back to them. Just use a different name for the folder used for the next set - eg bkupreg2, bkupreg3 etc.
Each time you make a backup, also make a note of why you did it (eg before installing xxx new software).

Windows ME users.

Its easier to do a backup in Win ME using the built in facility. Go to Start - Help, then select Use System Restore (near the bottom left hand of the screen),

In the next window click Create a Restore Point then click Next.

Type in a description (to remind you why you set the restore point) - no need to enter the date.

Click Next then OK and the job's done.

Restoring the files at a later date is just a matter of going down the same track as described above, but instead of selecting Create a Restore Point, choosing Restore my computer to an earlier time and following the instructions.

John Selby, technical bloke.

First Printed in SNN Newsletter December 2001