How to resurrect previous programs after forced Win7 re-installation

[Supertechster]

All,
I am a new member and got here by surfing for solution to an issue I got myself into but cannot figure out how to fix. My PC woldn't start and was looping. I found all kinds of answers from tons of web pages and literally tried them all 2-3 even 5times, over 2 weeks of int ermittent access - rebooting after each attempt without any success at all.

In the end, I just reinstalled Win7 x64 ULT on the same HDD and now, as many others have discovered, all of my Prgs and Apps are no longer listed or clickable. Like others I found a 'Windows.Old' dir with everything inside, but unlike others I also had made a backup of my registry before I started trying to fix this PC, thinking maybe I could try a 'trick' that an old crusty Win2003 Server builder and migration expert had showed me. I just cannot recall the HOW
The job was, we got a stack of brand new servers and a box of tapes and disks. We racked n' stacked, then installed Win 2003 Server on the boxes, then installed the tape backup software to each one, plugged in an LTO-3 tape drive, popped in a tape marked 001 of xxx, and restored all the apps for the next few days to that 1 server. This was repeated again and again for the next 1500 or so boxes until 3yrs later the job was complete.
At the end of any server build, we'd reboot, and grab the server name, MAC address, IP and THEN, while still on that server, call a number and the person on the other end would give us an IP address to go to (on their corporate server farm) and a client name where the ORIGINAL servers registry snapshots were.
He'd facititate access, issue a temp PW and we'd remote over, locate the Reg Key file in their server farm with the same name as the server we just finished, login to IT using the temporary credentials, access its registry and export a copy to the root\temp dir of that share. Then back at our site, we'd launch the registry tool on our server, point to that directory of that same share we just grabbed the REG file(s) from and 'import' it across the web to OUR machines registry. (Yikes!)

Dead simple right? Anyway, when we restarted the server, BANG! all apps and data were linked, desktop Icons were functional and it was basically a bigger, better, faster, exact duplicate of the original build they made our tapes from - inclusing all accounts, logins etc for their team back at source. Now THEY could go in remotely and tweak everything they needed for their purposes and future use...and we were basically DONE.

Does this 'Reg-trick' to duplicate a box sound familiar to any of you?? - and if so can I use it to import the copy of my saved registry to do the same? I ask b/c IF this trick is specific to Win 2003 Servers - I'll probably totally hose my machine and never get it right again.

....It is booting 100% now, but I've lost use of over 100 installed apps and such that I'd dearly miss and would take me years to locate, DL/replace and reinstall. Thanks!

 

[samuria]

As you dont know what was the cause of your problems before reinstall thn you may receate the fault if a registery problem

 

[Supertechster]

samuria - Good point, and thanks for the quick reply.. but I do know that it was boot-process related.

I could login and then it would go blank and restart. I tried safe mode, with and without debugging - same result and logs were no help. At the time, because I spent 2-3 weeks trying to solve THAT issue, the last thing I wanted to do was 'lose' all my prgs and apps.

I even tried updating, which requires you are already IN/running from windows when you launch it, but THAT I could NOT provide. How? ... I thought maybe I could trick it by moving the physical drive from C: to E:, installing a new working, disc in C:, booting from it and then launching update from the DVD in D:. Well, when it got to the point where it showed both C: (new/good) and E: HDD, and the WINDOWS install had paused in the 'which installation do you wish to update?' screen, I gleefully picked C: and waited. I was soon advised that 'This version of Windows cannot be updated using this method'. - but how, why... it was the exact-same version ?!?

Next I tried fooling it another way. I put D: back in C: and launched WinPE from the DVD. Same result. Hmmm - Maybe I should make a WinPE USB or HDD and try that? so I did. Same result.

Afterward, and thinking I had no other choices, I moved all non-WIN/SYS files and folders off C: because, who knows, maybe it would fail NEW install attempt and just reformat (?) That also didn't work so then I did the new install from DVD to C: and here we are.

Now I am thinking maybe I can somehow 'Roll this recent new install on C: (bad) back' and do an in-place update to Win10? (Ugh) and then once I get IT working, booting, browsing, revert c: (bad) with Win10) back to 7 and hopefully all will be well again.

The BIG issue is that 90% of my 'ancient' prgs and apps are not Win10 compatible. At all. Which is why I am still running Win7 (since 2010 I think)

During the entire non-booting/looping issue I'd run repair disk at least 20x without joy so I was lost and hit the web for info... but didn't find this site until days later, when I had some free time and had already done the new installation hoping the registry copy/paste trick i'd been shown would work.

I slept on this problem and recalled something else (which back then had become habit) In addition to that copy/paste - drag/drop registry trick... I also recall having to reboot each of the boxes after the tape restores finished, in safe, non-network mode, then opening Device Manager, and (literally) deleting everything in there related to the 'old' hardware which previously hosted their specialized software - Specifically, Drives, Cards, MBoards, Processors, Support chips, Video drivers, etc..) and then reboot many, many times adding drivers as needed for the new hardware to get everything operational. When it was at the basic, but stable point, and HAD networking up and running, we made the call and got the URL/PW needed to finalize the builds.

I wish I'd written down the steps, because our team grew from 5 to ~20 and most newbies only lasted a week or two (we wroked from 7-7 M-F, incl Holidays and 10-5 Weekends). Being there at launch - I racked and stacked the first set of 5 servers - I was the expert and had to make a build-sheet/template for the newbies to follow and sign off on each completed step (in case they got hit by a bus and didn't come back after lunch... if you get my drift)

Crazy work, insane hours and un-realistic working hours + 25yr NDA - Nothing could be brought in and nothing could be taken out except by SemiTrailer or them, so it's only my rapidly fading memory that remains

Could I somehow use a VM and duplicate the 'content' of C: (bad) and get it working? Maybe BART Pe? I am lost