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

Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
johnb35 said:
Mounting won't destroy the data, only actually formatting will.
Click to expand...
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ok, I at least have some hope then, I may have a better chance of saving data...Hey, would I then be able to re-try to get it too boot?...Will ck this tomorrow as I am burned out now...THANKS FOR THE CONTINUED ASSISTANCE!
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
Thanks for the reply(ies).

I have used mini tool partition manager and i believe i can "do something" with the restoration of the deleted/missing partition...(mount it/restore it)....I used another program that was able to recover some data but, not all and it was not the best program either...Before I attempt to screw around with this any further, I am going to see if i can copy the 1TB hd to my 4tb hard drive that I have been having issues with (win xp recognizing the size)...I have a program laying around here some place (macrium Reflect) that may be able to do the job and I believe that it will just copy to whatever it will recognize...(I hope).......I will keep you posted....
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
THANKS FOR THE REPLY!

I glanced at the program you have mentioned and even have an e-mail out to the site asking questions about same and am awaiting a reply.....

Do you know if the freeware program can be downloaded to a usb flash drive and be boot-able? Since I have only a 4tb ext hard drive, will this program still back up to it?
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
Greetings all!,

Ok, an update so-to-speak...

I copied/cloned the defective hd (DHD) to a 4tb ext hard drive (have another thread on this previously).. I used so many programs on this to see what my options were and what they would pull up that I don't remember which one I used!...I did this to insure that I would not corrupt my "primary hd (PHD)"....

Somewhere along the line I MAY have hit "repair MBR" or similar and now have what is displayed in the affixed picts...Remember, this is a 4tb ext hd drive that I am working with first. I have LESS than 1tb on my DHD. I have copied a few critical files from it so, it shows data is still present.

As in another thread, I had issues involving using the 4tb ext hd as a back up (winxp 2tb limit) but, should I be able to connect the hd up (remove it from enclosure), install it in computer, and boot from it?
 
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Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
I found a full registry entry back up I made a month before this screwed up...Problem is (and question) how do I introduce it back into the defective hard drive (DHD) that will not boot up?....If I ran the "mini-XP" that is on one of the recovery programs, and ONLY have the DHD connected, will that "mini-XP" allow me to import the full registry entry back up into the DHD?...ALL was working at that time......ANYONE?
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
The Crickets are chirping louder...ha!...

I AM TOTALLY LOST HERE....

I show the hard dive and partition with data still on it......I have used a few "restore" discs and have hit "fix MBR" but, still will not boot into partition that has the data contained.....See most recent picts....It seems as if "it" is "still there" and is "OFF" so-to-speak waiting t be turned "ON".....Attempted to see what ckdisk would do but, it wanted me to "unmount" the drive which I didn't do as I am sure it would cause me more problems......If required, I can post names of discs I have......HELP.
 
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Agent Smith

Agent Smith

Well-Known Member
I hate to say this, but you're all over the place, man. And your writing style is no help.

So, if I'm to understand this, you messed up the registry. Check. You now managed to clone a ext formatted drive that's 2TB s(?) to another? Check. Now you can't mount that drive or it's showing as unpartitioned space? Check.


Did you use that tool I pointed to from Easeus to restore partitions at all? I even gave you a link on how to do a system restore without booting Windows.
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
THANKS FOR THE REPLY.

I hate to say this, but you're all over the place, man. And your writing style is no help.
I ATTEMPTED TO FURNISH AS MUCH INFO WITH VARIOUS PROGRAMS I HAVE "APPLIED" TO BE SURE I WAS NOT LEAVING ANYTHING OUT...THE REST IS MUCH STRESS.

So, if I'm to understand this, you messed up the registry.
YES, I MADE A FEW CHANGES TO SPEED UP THE XP SHUT DOWN PROCESS AND IT CRAPPED ME OUT...PART OF THAT COULD HAVE BEEN BECAUSE I ALTERED THE VALUES THE TUTORIAL SUGGESTED. - SEE FOLLOWING LINK(S);

https://www.howtogeek.com/80102/make-windows-xp-shut-down-faster-2/


Check. You now managed to clone a ext formatted drive that's 2TB s(?) to another?
I HAVE A 4TB EXT HD.......I CLONED THE DEFECTIVE HARD DRIVE (DHD) TO THAT 4TB EXT HD AND SOME OF THE PICTS I POSTED WILL SHOW THAT 4TB HD.

Check. Now you can't mount that drive or it's showing as unpartitioned space?
IT SHOWS THE SPACE USED ON THAT EXT HD TAKEN BY THE "CLONE" OF THE DHD....I THINK IT IS UN-PARTITIONED SPACE (I AM CONFUSED). LOOK AT THE PICTS SHOWING THE UN-ALLOCATED SPACE). I CAN GRAB DATA/FILES FROM THERE BUT, SOME OF THE PROGRAMS I HAVE USED TO VIEW ALL THIS SEEM TO STATE EITHER NO OS OR PARTITION TABLE OR SIMILAR......GEEZ, I HOPE I SAID THAT CORRECTLY....I LOOKED AT SOME INFO PERTAINING TO "RESTORING PARTITION TABLE" BUT, DIDN'T UNDERSTAND IT SO, DID NOTHING.

Check. Did you use that tool I pointed to from Easeus to restore partitions at all? I even gave you a link on how to do a system restore without booting Windows
I HAD SOME DIFFICULTY IN DOING THAT BECAUSE I THINK IT SAID FOR "A FORMATTED DRIVE (ACCIDENTALLY FORMATTED)....THE PARTITION WAS NOT FORMATTED ASTHAT WOULD ERASE DATA, IT WAS THAT THE PARTITION APPEARS NOT "ACTIVE".....I WILL RE-ATTEMPT IT AGAIN.....

I HAVE:
DELL DIAGNOSTIC DISC,
BOOT MED,
ERD EMERGENCY RECOVERY DISC,
ULTIMATE BOOT DISC(S),
TRINITY RESCUE DISC,
HIRENS BOOT DISC V15.2,
PARAGON HARD DISC MANAGER,
PARAGON PARTITION MGR,
MINITOOL PARTITION MGR.

WAS ALSO LOOKING AT WINDOWS SYSINTERNALS .
 
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Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
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Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
Ordered another 1tb internal hd today....I figure that I will eliminate all the confusion with the 4tb ext hd being connected, copy/clone damaged hd to new hard drive (which I needed anyway) and beat the $hit out of that to see what will work.....Getting tired.
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
1TB drive came in yesterday..I transferred/cloned my "dfh" to it...When I start any various fixes to try to it,

I will delete all previous picts posted in this thread with a step by step pict of what i did/doing/am doing along the way since this tread is getting more cluttered and confusing...The data is still on the copied/clone disc and visible with a data recovery program..

.Somehow, I need to get this disc bootable and usable again.
 
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Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
UPDATE - It's been a while but, I decided to use another fresh 1TB hard drive and start from total scratch...It was taking too damned long to resolve this......I was able to recover all mail, addresses, many files (a lot more to transfer) etc, with a lot more to get....A lot of time is spent sorting out everything by subject matter....

Everything I have read seems to indicate that since the files are there and I have retrieved them, I am being told that there is no file system in place and then, being told (or read) that i must format the drive which will wipe data from it....I see no way of restoring the drive w/out destroying data.

ON ANOTHER NOTE -
(should I start a separate thread for this?)

I have recovered some .EML files but, am unable to open them....Win XP uses Outlook Express (OE) and I read that it should open same.....I have looked for "file associations" but, do not see it listed....I attempted to add it and point to OE as the program to open same but, all it does is is open OE and nothing else......Any ideas?
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
Thanks for the reply...Looks like that will "suck"....What I was attempting to achieve was to have 'em open automatically instead of a drag and drop.
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
I may try the following:
"EMLfiles are not opening in Outlook Express, even though it is installed."
This is usually caused because another program has hijacked the EML extension. You'll need to reset the file associations for Outlook Express.
    • Close Outlook Express if it is open.[1]
    • Press ⊞ Win+R.
    • Type msimn /reg and press ↵ Enter. This will reset the file associations for Outlook Express. EML files should now open in Express automatically when double-clicked.

      BUT, I will do a complete back up image before I try it. I remember what happened last time!
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
FIXED IT!!

https://superuser.com/questions/325...es-loads-the-entire-email-client-not-the-file

"If EML files will not open in Outlook Express, try the following":

Open My Computer. Select Folder Options from the Tools menu. Click the File Types tab. Under Registered file types, select EML Outlook Express Mail Message, then click Advanced. Click Open, then click Edit. Type the following line in the "Application used to perform action" box: "C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\MSIMN.EXE" /eml:%1 Click OK twice, then close the window.

NOTE - I started withe the above and somehow navigated to the below path and actions....Where there was no ".EML" listed there, there was when i looked a few moments ago...The dialog said to go to file types, find .eml, then after I clicked on it below was a button to change to default....I pressed it and it is now fixed.
 
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