How to Repair the Registry in WinXP
- 1). Go to a working computer and insert a blank floppy disk into the floppy drive.
- 2). Right click on the open desktop and click the "New - Text Document" option on the pop-up menu. Change the name of the new file to "regcopy1.txt." Double click the new file to open it in Windows Notepad.
- 3). Copy and paste the following text into the text file:
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 - 4). Click the "File/Save" option on the menu. Close the Notepad application.
- 5). Right click on the "regcopy1.txt" file and then on the "Send To - Floppy Drive (A:)" option on the pop-up menu. Wait for Windows to copy the file to the floppy disk. Eject the disk when the copy process finishes.
- 6). Create another new text file on the Windows desktop and rename it to "regcopy2.txt." Open the file in Notepad and copy and paste the following text:
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 - 7). Save the text file and exit Notepad. Send the file to the floppy disk in the floppy drive.
- 8). Go to the problem computer and insert the Windows XP installation CD into the CD/DVD drive. Wait for the computer to boot from the CD and display the "Welcome to Setup" screen. Press the "R" key to start the Recovery Console utility. Enter an administrator password if prompted to do so.
- 9). Insert the floppy disk into the floppy drive. Type "a:\batch regcopy1.txt" at the Recovery Console prompt and press the Enter key. Wait for Recovery Console to run the batch file. Once Recovery Console finishes, type "Exit" at the prompt. The computer will restart.
- 10
Tap the F8 key repeatedly as soon as you see the initial boot screen on the computer and wait for the Windows Advanced Boot Menu to appear. Press the down-arrow key to scroll to the "Safe Mode" option and then press the Enter key. - 11
Wait for Windows to start in Safe Mode. Then click the "Start" button and then "Windows Explorer." In Windows Explorer, click the "Tools" and then "Folder Options" menu option. Click the "View" tab. - 12
Click to select the "Show hidden files and folders" option under the "Hidden files and folders" tab. Clear the check mark from the box next to "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)" option. Click the "Yes" button on the confirmation screen. - 13
Double click on the system hard drive (usually C) where Windows XP is installed. Double click and open the "System Volume Information" folder. - 14
Scroll through the list of folders and select one with a recent date stamp (preferably older than a couple of hours but not more than 48 hours) and click on a folder that looks something like: "C:\System Volume Information\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}\RP1\Snapshot." This is a Windows Snapshot folder. - 15
Open another Windows Explorer window and browse to the "C:\Windows\Temp" folder. Go back to the Snapshot folder and copy and paste the following files into the "C:\Windows\Temp" folder:
_REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM - 16
Go to the Windows Explorer window that is displaying the "C:\Windows\Temp" folder is and rename the four files as follows (use the "F2" key):
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 - 17
Reboot the computer with the Windows installation CD in the CD/DVD drive. Wait for the "Welcome to Setup" screen to appear and press the R key. - 18
Type "a:\batch regcopy2.txt" at the Recovery Console prompt. Wait for the process to finish and type "Exit" at the prompt to exit Recovery Console. - 19
Boot the computer normally in Windows. Click the "Start" button and then "All Programs." Click the "Accessories" and then "System Tools" tabs. Click "System Restore" and "Restore to a previous Restore Point" option.
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