Win XP - I screwed up my registry - assistance restoring backup.

[Da Mail Man]

Greetings All!,

When will I learn?!.....I noticed that my Dell PC desktop (Win XP, 2 gbs ram, SP3, 1 TB sata hd, 3.2 ghz) was taking a long time to shut down as as a result, I searched the net for a "fix" (yeah I gotta fix alright!).

**I exported the registry into a folder on the HD before I started to modify the registry.**

I made a few changes to the registry and shut the computer down for the night...As a result, cannot get it back on it's feet - computer is not recognizing the cd-dvr drives nor does it recognize booting it the xp os disc (how could it if it doesn't recognize the optical drive? - duh)....

"Safe mode" and "last known config" doesn't complete and doesn't do anything....I have loaded the "defective drive (drive I am trying to fix)" into another Dell desktop (where I am typing now) and booted up the computer.

I can see and access the defective 1tb hd and can get to the registry back up I saved.

**HOW do I import the SAVED REGISTRY BACK UP into the "defective hard drive" w/out accidentally having it go into the working computer/hard drive I am currently using?

 

[johnb35]

Can I ask what registry settings you changed? It may be simple to just boot to the xp install cd and do a repair.

 

[Da Mail Man]

Thanks for the reply...

I tried that......This is one of the problems - I CANNOT boot from the cd so, that option is ruled out....As for the "settings", I'd have to "re-find" the page I was on with the instructions for that.....I did however, make some of the settings LOWER than what is listed to do the change/modification.

I THINK this is the page and directions I used or darn well close to it!
https://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Slow-Windows-XP-Shutdowns

 

[johnb35]

If the cd won't boot then there is something wrong with the drive or cd. The registry isn't loaded at boot so the cd should bootup just fine. Does the bios detect the cd drive?

 

[Da Mail Man]

**CAPS ARE NOT YELLING AND ONLY SERVE TO SEGREGATE PORTIONS OF THE REPLY**

If the cd won't boot then there is something wrong with the drive or cd.
NOPE -TRIED ANOTHER KNOWN OPTICAL DRIVE...THE HARD DRIVE IS FINE...IT WAS ONLY AFTER I TAMPERED WITH THE REGISTRY AS STATED, I STARTED HAVING THE ISSUE.

The registry isn't loaded at boot so the cd should bootup just fine. Does the bios detect the cd drive?
I CAN'T GET THAT FAR...I SHOVED A WIN XP DISK IN AND HAVE VERIFIED THAT THE BIOS IS SET TO BOOT FROM USB THEN OPTICAL DRIVES - THEN HARD DRIVE...IF I CAN PLACE (AS IN MY ORIGINAL QUESTION) THE SAVED REGISTRY BACK INTO THE DEFECTIVE HARD DRIVE AS STATED, I HAVE A CHANCE BUT, AS I SAID, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO INDUCT THE SAVED BACK UP REG FILE INTO THE HD....
(FORGOT TO ADD - AS FOR THE BIOS RECOGNIZING THE OPTICAL DRIVE(S), I DON'T RECALL AT THIS WRITING BUT, CAN SAY NO CONFIGURATION OF ANYTHING (EXCEPT REGISTRY) HAS CHANGED BEFORE OF AFTER THE REGEDITING)

 

[johnb35]

ERUNT but you would still have to boot into windows recovery from the XP cd. But like I said, the XP cd should bootup just fine as registry isn't loaded until windows loads.

 

[Da Mail Man]

I went into the "C DRIVE" of the defective hard drive connected to this computer the messed up hd connected and I found an icon that says "regedit" and clicked on it which apparently opened the registry...I looked in the registry where i thought there would be a lot if data/info and there was practically none.

 

[johnb35]

Regedit isn't the registry, Regedit is a command, not a file. The registry is actually stored inside the C:\windows\system32\config folder. So if you are saying that you only copied the regedit command then you are out of luck. What did you use to back up the registry or how did you do it?

 

[Da Mail Man]

Regedit isn't the registry, Regedit is a command, not a file.
SORRY, I MIS-SPOKE...I BELIEVED THAT IT WAS THE WAY TO GET TO THE REGISTRY AS I HAVE USUALLY DONE IN "RUN" AND TYPING REGEDIT.

The registry is actually stored inside the C:\windows\system32\config folder. So if you are saying that you only copied the regedit command then you are out of luck.
NO NO - I DID IN FACT EXPORT THE REGISTRY TO A FILE (NOT THE "COMMAND") FOLDER IN THAT VERY SAME HARD DRIVE

What did you use to back up the registry or how did you do it?
YA LOST ME...I WENT INTO THE REGISTRY BEFORE I TINKERED AND HIT "EXPORT" WHICH ALLOWED ME TO SAVE IT INTO THAT FILE AND AS WE SPEAK, IT IS STILL ON THAT HARD DRIVE AND IS ACCESSIBLE.

 

[Da Mail Man]

ERUNT but you would still have to boot into windows recovery from the XP cd. But like I said, the XP cd should bootup just fine as registry isn't loaded until windows loads.

***********************************
ERUNT but you would still have to boot into windows recovery from the XP cd.
I TRIED THAT..I HIT LAST KNOWN, SAFE MODE, SAFE MODE WITH NETWORKING, COMMAND LINE, ETC AND IT SEEMS LIKE IT "STOPS SHORT" WHEN IT TRIES TO GET THERE...

But like I said, the XP cd should bootup just fine as registry isn't loaded until windows loads.
AGAIN, THAT IS WHAT I THOUGHT BUT, IT DOESN'T SEE THE DISC....I HAVE A LOT OF BOOT RESCUE CD'S AND TRIED 1 OR 2 OF THEM WITH THE SAME RESULTS.....HAVE INSERTED A FLASH DRIVE AND IT "FLASHES" FOR APPARENT RECOGNITION BUT, DOESN'T BOOT INTO IT AND THE HARD DRIVE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM THAT IS ON THE FLASH DRIVE IS BOOTABLE.

 

[johnb35]

You never did answer my question about if the bios detects the cd drive. Since you used registry editor to export, you won't be able to import the file without using regedit on the correct drive which you can't boot to. Either way, you'll have to boot to the xp cd to get this fixed.

https://neosmart.net/wiki/fix-registry/#Fix_a_corrupt_registry_in_Windows_XP

If that don't work, then you will be reinstalling XP. Or you could actually do a system restore using the XP install cd but supposedly you can't boot to it.

So again does the bios detect the cd drive??? If it doesn't drive is bad or something else is wrong.

 

[Da Mail Man]

THANKS FOR THE REPLY(IES),

You never did answer my question about if the bios detects the cd drive.
AND I SAID I DIDN'T REMEMBER...GOING TO DO IT TOMORROW TO REFRESH MY MEMORY AND WILL POST IT.

Since you used registry editor to export, you won't be able to import the file without using regedit on the correct drive which you can't boot to.
I CAN ACCESS THE DRIVE AND SET IT TO "SLAVE" TO THE ONE I AM USING NOW....WOULD NOT ME CLICKING ON THAT REGISTRY FILE STORED ION THE DEFECTIVE DRIVE EXPORT IT TO THAT SAME "DEFECTIVE" DRIVE FROM WHERE IT IS STORED DRIVE AND NOT THE ONE I AM ON?...THAT IS MY 2ND BIGGEST FEAR THAT, IF I CLICK ON THE "DEFECTIVE" DRIVE REGISTRY FILE STORED THERE, THAT IT MAY COPY IT TO THE DRIVE I AM USING NOW IN THIS COMPUTER.

Either way, you'll have to boot to the xp cd to get this fixed.
LIKE I SAID, ALL ALL ALL WAS WORKING BEFORE I TAMPERED.

https://neosmart.net/wiki/fix-registry/#Fix_a_corrupt_registry_in_Windows_XP

If that don't work, then you will be reinstalling XP. Or you could actually do a system restore using the XP install cd but supposedly you can't boot to it.
CORRECT

So again does the bios detect the cd drive??? If it doesn't drive is bad or something else is wrong.
SEE ABOVE STATEMENTS - ("AND I SAID I DIDN'T REMEMBER...GOING TO DO IT TOMORROW TO REFRESH MY MEMORY AND WILL POST IT.") I DON'T THINK IT IS HARDWARE FAILURE AS ALL WORKED BEFORE.

GONNA TAKE A DEEP BREATH NOW AND WILL CK BACK TO THIS TOMORROW MORNING- THANKS ALL FOR THE ASSISTANCE!

 

[johnb35]

.WOULD NOT ME CLICKING ON THAT REGISTRY FILE STORED ION THE DEFECTIVE DRIVE EXPORT IT TO THAT SAME "DEFECTIVE" DRIVE FROM WHERE IT IS STORED DRIVE AND NOT THE ONE I AM ON?...THAT IS MY 2ND BIGGEST FEAR THAT, IF I CLICK ON THE "DEFECTIVE" DRIVE REGISTRY FILE STORED THERE, THAT IT MAY COPY IT TO THE DRIVE I AM USING NOW IN THIS COMPUTER.

No, it would probably import to new drive you are currently running from.

This is the main reason why its not safe to play around with the registry unless you really know what you are doing.

If you can somehow boot to the XP cd, follow this guide to do a system restore back to before you edited the registry.

https://www.myfixes.com/articles/system/

 

[Agent Smith]

Try this to see if you can boot from CD. While the computer boots keep pressing the F12 key. Now select boot from CD straight from there instead of relying on BIOS boot order you have configured.

If you still can't boot from CD or USB, then look over all of your BIOS settings and make sure something in there is not preventing a CD or USB boot.

What model Dell is this?

Another option would be just to clear CMOS, give the F12 key some lovin' on boot and try and boot from CD or USB again.

Edit-

If you have another computer like a laptop, whatever these instructions may help. https://community.spiceworks.com/ho...restore-manually-when-windows-is-not-bootable

Depending on your hard drive port SATA or PATA, use the proper adapter that plugs into USB to the second computer so you can access your OS drive. Amazon and eBay sell SATA and PATA to USB adapters. Some have both SATA/PATA to USB capabilities.

You might not need it, but I prefer to have a SATA/PATA USB adapter that comes with a power supply. Don't buy cheap crap and make sure it sells and ships from the states.



Next time you want to monkey with the registry, try a sandboxing environment so in case something messes up a reboot will restore your changes. If the registry trick worked, then you can commit it. A couple of programs are Time Freeze (a little buggy with my testing) and Shadow Defender. Will run you about $35.

Or you can actually image your entire OS and install it to VMware Workstation Player and mess with settings in the virtual machine. It will in effect be your computer in a virtual environment for monkeying around in. https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-a-virtual-machine-image-of-your-existing-hard-drive-windows/

Since you're using a very old OS, I don't even know if any of this software will work. If I were you I'd at least upgrade to Windows 7. It's certainly not that App crap called Windows 8 and not asinine Windows 10. It's like a middle man between what works and a half way decent upgrade. XP is pretty damn worn in the tooth and it will come where you can't even use a modern browser and/or visit an encrypted website. And many sites are being forced by Google to use encryption. Pretty soon 99.9% of all websites on the Internet will be encrypted. In fact, if you try to visit my site with XP you'll get blocked.

 

[Da Mail Man]

No, it would probably import to new drive you are currently running from.
THAT IS WHAT I WAS AFRAID OF...THANKS

This is the main reason why its not safe to play around with the registry unless you really know what you are doing.
I DID/DO/THOUGHT I DID ....I JUST FOLLOWED DIRECTIONS (SOMEWHAT) ON THE LINK I STATED EXCEPT I MADE THE CHANGED VALUES A BIT LOWER.

If you can somehow boot to the XP cd, follow this guide to do a system restore back to before you edited the registry.
GONNA GIVE IT ANOTHER SHOT THIS MORNING OR EARLY AFTERNOON.

https://www.myfixes.com/articles/system/

 

[Da Mail Man]

Try this to see if you can boot from CD.
AS I STATED, WILL TRY TODAY

While the computer boots keep pressing the F12 key. Now select boot from CD straight from there instead of relying on BIOS boot order you have configured.
I HAVE ALREADY DONE THAT.

If you still can't boot from CD or USB, then look over all of your BIOS settings and make sure something in there is not preventing a CD or USB boot.
I HAVE DONE THAT TOO BUT, NOT OPPOSED TO DOING IT AGAIN.

What model Dell is this?
DELL OPTIPLEX 280

Another option would be just to clear CMOS, give the F12 key some lovin' on boot and try and boot from CD or USB again.
THOUGHT ABOUT THAT TOO AND VERY WELL MAY TRY IN.

Edit-

If you have another computer like a laptop, whatever these instructions may help. https://community.spiceworks.com/ho...restore-manually-when-windows-is-not-bootable
NO PROBLEM WITH COMPUTER ACCESS TO HIT THE NET

Depending on your hard drive port SATA or PATA, use the proper adapter that plugs into USB to the second computer so you can access your OS drive. Amazon and eBay sell SATA and PATA to USB adapters. Some have both SATA/PATA to USB capabilities.
COMPLETELY LOST HERE...THIS DESKTOP HAS 2 SATA CABLES RUNNING FROM THE MB AND I BELIEVE IDE ALSO. HAVE ONE HD PLUGGED INTO EACH.

You might not need it, but I prefer to have a SATA/PATA USB adapter that comes with a power supply. Don't buy cheap crap and make sure it sells and ships from the states.
AS ABOVE

Next time you want to monkey with the registry, try a sandboxing environment so in case something messes up a reboot will restore your changes.
HAVE VIRTUAL BOX CURRENTLY THERE BUT, HAVEN'T SET IT UP...HAVE A 4 TB EXT HD BUT, FOUGHT WITH ISSUES WITH THAT SINCE XP DOESN'T RECOGNIZE 4TB...TRIED TO PARTITION TO 4 1-TB SECTIONS BUT, THAT CRAPPED OUT TOO....IT WAS ONE OF THINGS I HAD TO WALK AWAY FROM FOR A WHILE AND WILL EVENTUALLY GET BACK TO IT...THAT IS WHY I BOUGHT IT DO DO COMPUTER BACK UP IN CASE SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENED...(NOT, DO NOT NEED ANY INFO ON THIS SUBJECT RIGHT NOW).

If the registry trick worked, then you can commit it. A couple of programs are Time Freeze (a little buggy with my testing) and Shadow Defender. Will run you about $35.
REGISTRY" TRICK?"...HUH?

Or you can actually image your entire OS and install it to VMware Workstation Player and mess with settings in the virtual machine. It will in effect be your computer in a virtual environment for monkeying around in. https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-a-virtual-machine-image-of-your-existing-hard-drive-windows/
HAD NOT THOUGHT OF THAT.

Since you're using a very old OS, I don't even know if any of this software will work.
IT IS WHAT IT IS AND I HAVE TO WORK WITH WHAT I HAVE.

If I were you I'd at least upgrade to Windows 7.
IF I WISHED TO, I WOULD HAVE DONE IT ALREADY.

It's certainly not that App crap called Windows 8 and not asinine Windows 10. It's like a middle man between what works and a half way decent upgrade. XP is pretty damn worn in the tooth and it will come where you can't even use a modern browser and/or visit an encrypted website. And many sites are being forced by Google to use encryption. Pretty soon 99.9% of all websites on the Internet will be encrypted. In fact, if you try to visit my site with XP you'll get blocked.

 

[Da Mail Man]

UPDATE - A HORRENDOUS UPDATE;

1)..I was able to unplug or detach every blasted thing from the computer.

2)..Then, loaded a win xp disk and WAS able to boot from/into same...I was stuck in a boot-loop as I was before...I selected whatever the entry saying don't reboot after error and starting getting blue screen error message.

3)..I attempted safe mode and that crapped out as well as "repair".

4)..I attempted to use many "hd and recovery discs to try and get this thing to boot up and now, using Hirens boot cd, it is saying that there is no partition if i understand it correctly!

I am in Hiren's right now and it has found the approx 1TB partition (only had one and no other partitions) but, says it is "unmounted".....Now, it does give me the ability to "mount" same and one of the questions I have is, what will happen to the data on the disc?...It has NOT BEEN FORMATTED....Somewhere, I "lost" the partition!...I am not sure right now (and extremely burned out) how do "undelete" the lost partition or, how do I restore same.

 

[johnb35]

To be honest, sounds like the hdd took a crap on you. I would do the extended test diagnostic on it. There is no way this happened just by editing the registry, something else had to happen.

 

[Da Mail Man]

THANKS FOR THE REPLY

To be honest, sounds like the hdd took a crap on you. I would do the extended test diagnostic on it. There is no way this happened just by editing the registry, something else had to happen.
BEATS ME HOW THIS HAPPENED!...I STARTED RUNNING A PROGRAM THAT FOUND DOCS, PICTS, ETC BUT, DID NOT CONTINUE WITH IT...I THINK IF IT CRAPPED OUT THAT, I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT BUT, WHAT THE HECK DO I KNOW....I DON'T KNOW HOW TO RECOVER THE PARTITION THUS, POSSIBLY GIVING ME A CHANCE TO RECOVER INFO....IF REMOUNTING THE PARTITION, WOULD THAT DESTROY DATA?...(if i take a long while to rsvp, be advised I am screwing with this or, have taken a few aspirin and went to the couch).

 

[johnb35]

Mounting won't destroy the data, only actually formatting will.