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Recovery of windows
registry, windows system32/config, or corrupt hive file errors.
This information is supplied without warranty. It can help if
done correctly. Use at your own risk. If this Fixes your problem please give
$2 with paypal link at the bottom of this article.
Don't forget to listen to your computer to see if it has the "Clunk
of death" in the hard drive before starting any windows repairs.
Recovering from a corrupt hive, windows system32/config file errors or
even some registry stop errors like c0000218 can be easy if you know how
to get into system restore without windows being able to load. In an
earlier help page I wrote
about using a windows xp disk and using the recovery console to get to a
very primitive but effective DOS like screen that allows the user the
ability to put the files from the system restore folder into the system
32 config folder to restore the registry.
This time I am using the Bart's PE disk to do a manual system restore. I
have done this several times since I like to try what I post on the
site. The Bart's PE disk can be very handy and will allow you to get to
your files without putting your hard drive into another machine to move
the restore files. It will also take less time to load to the Bart's PE
disk than getting to the XP Recovery console.
First you need to have or make a Bart's PE disk. The Bart's PE disk will
give you a bootable live windows CD or DVD to boot your system with.
Visit here(this link opens a new window
so you wont loose this one) to download and
get instructions on how to build your Bart's PE disk.
Power up the corrupt computer and put the Bart's disk in it. Hit the
reset button so your computer reboots to the PE disk.
Your system should boot to what I will call the Bart's Desktop. A window
will pop up asking about network support. Just cancel that. You won't be
needing it for this fix.
Click on go.
Move up to programs and click A43 File Management Utility
a window that looks a lot like windows explorer (not internet
explorer) will come up and you will need to open the C: drive.
For this article we will assume your windows operating system
is on the C: drive.
Now open the folder that says System Volume Information.
You will now see a folder that says _restore{bunch of numbers
and letters} open that folder.
This is your system restore folder. You should see folders that say
RPxxx RP stands for Restore Point and then there will be a number next
to the RP. In the system I'm working with to write this article there
are only two restore points. RP 0 and RP 1 Most systems have way more
than this but I just loaded windows on the test machine. Rule of thumb
is to use the second to the last restore point. You can go back and use
an earlier restore point if the one you choose doesn't work for you.
Open the restore point you wish to use for your recovery.
Now open the folder that says snapshot. In this folder you will find
many files. the files you are interested in are
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
and
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
I will guess that if your this deep you know how to copy and
paste. Highlight and copy
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
Navigate to
C:\windows\system32\config
You will notice that there are several files named system and also
several that say software. The ones we are concerned with are the ones
that don't have a file extension listed after the file name.
Note: Some people say you can just change the file extension of the .bak
files of system and software files that are already in the config
folder, but the .bak files may be more recent than the ones in the
system restore folder that you should be working from. If you choose to,
you can try deleting the system and software files from the config
folder and remove the .bak from the other system and software files then
reboot the system remembering to remove the PE disk so your system will
load to the hard drive. If this works... GREAT. If not then finish with
these instructions.
Now Right click on the file that says system and delete it. Be patient it will
take a minute or two for Bart's to delete the file. If you click a spot
in that window you will notice your cursor will change. When it changes
back to a pointer again you should be able to go to the next step.
Paste the
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM file
into the config folder and rename it SYSTEM
Again you may have to wait while the file is renamed.
Now repeat the copy and paste process with the _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE file remembering to delete the old software file
before you rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
to SOFTWARE.
You should now be able to click on GO
Move up to Shut Down
Click Restart.
Make sure to get the Bart's PE disk out of the drive after the computer
begins to restart, otherwise your system will boot up to the PE disk
again and you will have to restart the system again to get to the
windows operating system.
Once again I remind you that once you have recovered your system you
need to check your drive with software that can detect a bad drive. No
sense in having the thing working again and have it quit after your
repair. Better to know the drive is bad and replace it than go through
all this just to have the drive die and loose it all again.
If this helped give $2 dollars with the
PayPal Make a Donation button.
Please
leave a comment with your Donation. Thanks... Dale
Your
instructions on how to restore a previous system state using Bart PE
saved me today from reformatting! Great work, much appreciated.
...Michael
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