What if I copy someone else's registry files?


  1. Posts : 16
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1-U 64bit
       #1

    What if I copy someone else's registry files?


    My Win7 home premium 64bit registry is corrupt. I've tried repairing it using System Recovery Options and Startup Repair 3 times but they didn't work. I've tried to copy the files from windows32/system/config/regback to windows32/system/config still no luck (the back-up files seem to be more corrupt too, actually worse as it doesn't seem to follow the numbers in Startup Repair Infinite Loop Recovery, so I reversed it when I couldn't save that either as I made a backup of the original registry before using regback as suggested in Startup Repair Infinite Loop Recovery). I tried:
    bootrec /fixmbr
    bootrec /fixboot
    bootrec /RebuildBcd

    But that didn't work.

    I tried chkdsk d: f/ with dismount (my windows files are in d: with c: as a reserve). I tried sfc /scannow /offbootdir=c:\ /offwindir=d:\windows also.

    I have no backups saved and I already retrieved my documents from the computer. So my question is: Can I copy someone else's regback or even current registry files and just use theirs or will the system be too unstable. I was thinking of using someone's win 7 home premium 32bit though as I have the only computer with 64bit. And is there a way to copy program settings like from program files, specifically firefox as I like the way I have it customized and have some passwords saved on to it. I was thinking of first saving a backup of my current registry just in case.

    So I would use an external harddrive (let's call it j):
    cd d:\windows\system32\config
    copy *.* j:\backupcurrent

    Then copy the windows\system32\config\regback of a healthy Win7 computer, then

    copy j:\windows\system32\config\regback\system d:\windows\system32\config\system
    copy j:\windows\system32\config\regback\software d:\windows\system32\config\software
    copy j:\windows\system32\config\regback\security d:\windows\system32\config\security
    copy j:\windows\system32\config\regback\sam d:\windows\system32\config\sam
    copy j:\windows\system32\config\regback\default d:\windows\system32\config\default

    Thoughts?
      My Computer


  2. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #2

    Your plan will not work. Since you have your files backed up, you better reinstall. And next time make frequent images so that you can easily set back.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 16
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1-U 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #3

    I was afraid of that, so a clean install is the only answer? Also, is there anything I can do about the firefox like copying the program file, or will I have to start from scratch with that? Thanks, and I will keep backups in the future.
      My Computer


  4. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #4

    From the browsers you should backup your favorites.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 16
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1-U 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #5

    thanks
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 16
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1-U 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #6

    One last question, the only reason the system restore is not working is because of error 0x80070017. Is there a way to fix that? From what I read, it seemed to be a cyclic redundancy check caused during installation, but my computer crashed after I installed Windows 7 updates on last Friday. Maybe you know a way around that?
      My Computer


  7. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #7

    That is catch 22. The error was probably introduced by a corrupted update and now it prevents you from going back to a previous restore point. Tough call. That is one reason I always make an image before I change anything in my system. The image I can always pull in without relying on windows.

    Bottom line: No idea what you can do if you have no images. Sorry.
      My Computer


 

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