Chapter 3: Backing Up the Registry

Chapter 3

Backing Up the Registry

Mistakes happen–whether they are due to your own silly errors or to users' meddling with the registry when they shouldn't. Nothing can happen that warrants a lot of anxiety, however. Ninety-nine times out of 100, the tools you learn about in this chapter can prevent or overcome any registry error. Because I know how to use these tools, there's been only one time when I broke a computer so badly that I gave up and reinstalled Microsoft Windows XP. The sad part was that after spending hours reinstalling the operating system and incumbent applications, I discovered an easy fix for the problem.

Not only do most of these tools back up and protect the registry, they're also features that push the reliability of Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (Windows) far beyond the levels present in earlier versions of Windows. System Restore ensures that you can roll back the configuration of Windows XP to an earlier state, which the operating system saves automatically. Other features that make Windows more stable include Device Driver Rollback, Error Reporting, and Windows Driver Protection. See http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/plan/rlbwinxp.mspx for the “Reliability Improvements in Windows XP Professional” white paper.

In this chapter, I show you many ways to restore a configuration, but you won't need all of them. Pick one or two techniques that work for you, and stick with them. In particular, decide which of the methods you're going to use to protect the registry while editing it. I prefer to save keys to hive files before making changes to the registry, but you might prefer to make backup copies of individual values. Also, you definitely need to know about System Restore in Windows XP. Chapter 9, “Troubleshooting Problems,” describes advanced troubleshooting tools that you turn to only when things are so dire that you have no other choice.

Many of these tools require advance preparation. For example, to restore a backup copy of the registry, you must have made a backup. Read this chapter first in preparation for problems that hopefully won't occur.