Manually restore registry from restore points

[Reggie12]

Hi,
In XP it was possible to manually copy a backup of the registry from a system restore snapshot. I often deal with laptops where the system registry hive is damaged, in this situation it is not possible to access restore points in the usual way; instead we would access the disk by external enclosure or network boot and manually copy the backed up system hive from the latest restore point, which was stored in "System Volume Information" in a _restore folder.
Is it possible to do the same in windows 7 and if so, where are the files stored?
Reggie12

 

[Flavius]

System Restore in Vista/Win 7 is completely different than in XP

it restore not only registry files but also system files and installed programs and it's ability to restore system from install disk level too,details here:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/700-system-restore.html

system restore can also backup your private data,but it restore only upon your special request
Previous Versions - Shadow Copy - Vista Forums

If you really want to make your own registry files backup you have to use 3p program like RegBak Acelogix Software - Freeware
or ERUNT ERUNT and NTREGOPT

 

[MacGyvr]

Hi,
In XP it was possible to manually copy a backup of the registry from a system restore snapshot. I often deal with laptops where the system registry hive is damaged, in this situation it is not possible to access restore points in the usual way; instead we would access the disk by external enclosure or network boot and manually copy the backed up system hive from the latest restore point, which was stored in "System Volume Information" in a _restore folder.
Is it possible to do the same in windows 7 and if so, where are the files stored?
Reggie12

The files are stored in the same place as in Windows XP, but I know of no way to restore selected files on either platform.

 

[whs]

Try Shadow Explorer which allows you to restore individual files/folders. Whether it works for the registry, I do not know. Here is a tutorial I once made on Shadow Explorer. But it is pretty simple to operate.

 

[Flavius]

Try Shadow Explorer which allows you to restore individual files/folders. Whether it works for the registry, I do not know.

It doesn't work for registry file.

 

[MacGyvr]

System Restore in Vista/Win 7 is completely different than in XP

it restore not only registry files but also system files and installed programs and it's ability to restore system from install disk level too,details here:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/700-system-restore.html

system restore can also backup your private data,but it restore only upon your special request
Previous Versions - Shadow Copy - Vista Forums

If you really want to make your own registry files backup you have to use 3p program like RegBak Acelogix Software - Freeware
or ERUNT ERUNT and NTREGOPT

I disagree. I know of no differences in System Restore from XP to 7. Neither is capable of a file-level restore. Both restore the registry and all system files as needed back to a given date/time.

Shadow copy is used by System Restore, but other than that, it is a separate entity. I believe you are confusing "Previous Versions" with "System Restore."

 

[Flavius]

Both restore the registry and all system files as needed back to a given date/time.

Nnly in Vista and Win 7 can restore all system files.XP only registry files

 

[NoN]

What's about that tutorial?:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/4230-registry-backup-restore.html?filter[2]=Backup Restore

 

[MacGyvr]

Both restore the registry and all system files as needed back to a given date/time.

Nnly in Vista and Win 7 can restore all system files.XP only registry files

That is ABSOLUTELY false. Where are you getting that information? I do System Restore on XP all the time for customers. It affects ALL files other than user data.

Taken from: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084

"This article describes how to use the System Restore tool to return your computer to a previous state. System Restore takes "snapshots" of critical system files and some program files and registry settings and stores this information as restore points. If your computer is not functioning correctly, you can use these restore points to return Windows XP to a previous state when your computer was functioning correctly. It can also change scripts, batch files, and other kinds of executable files on your computer.

This article is for a beginning to intermediate computer user.

Note System Restore does not affect personal files, such as e-mail, documents, or photos. You can only restore files that you have deleted if you have made backups of those files. "

Please, Please, PLEASE check your facts before you post here. You may mean well and mislead a novice user.

 

[Flavius]

I admit that I was wrong about XP ability neverless I still have a objections

"critical system files" does not mean "all system files"

and I found this one:Windows XP System Restore Guide

These restore points contain configuration and settings and files that are necessary for your computer to run correctly. The following are some of the settings and files that are saved in a Restore Point:

* Registry (Contains Configuration information for application, user, and operating system settings)
* Windows File Protection files in the dllscache folder. (Used for protecting system files)
* COM+ Database
* Windows Management Instrumentation Database
* IIS Metabase (Contains configuration for Internet Information Server)
* Files with extensions listed in the Monitored File Extensions list in the System Restore section of the Platform SDK
* Local Profiles

I think it affects only some system files,not all.

 

[karlsnooks]

Both restore the registry and all system files as needed back to a given date/time.

Nnly in Vista and Win 7 can restore all system files.XP only registry files

That is ABSOLUTELY false. Where are you getting that information? I do System Restore on XP all the time for customers. It affects ALL files other than user data.

Taken from: How to restore Windows XP to a previous state

"This article describes how to use the System Restore tool to return your computer to a previous state. System Restore takes "snapshots" of critical system files and some program files and registry settings and stores this information as restore points. If your computer is not functioning correctly, you can use these restore points to return Windows XP to a previous state when your computer was functioning correctly. It can also change scripts, batch files, and other kinds of executable files on your computer.

This article is for a beginning to intermediate computer user.

Note System Restore does not affect personal files, such as e-mail, documents, or photos. You can only restore files that you have deleted if you have made backups of those files. "

Please, Please, PLEASE check your facts before you post here. You may mean well and mislead a novice user.

Very sound advice.
Very experienced advice.

Shooting from the hip is easy. Hitting the target is something else.

 

[Obs]

I googled all over the place about this and found this thread. Every MS OS after XP sucks so bad that they removed almost every opportunity to fix the system after it breaks. You can only do repair install from the desktop now because only people with perfectly working, bootable systems would need to run a repair install, right?
And of course, the registry hives are not conveniently where they always were before so you could manually do it after a botched System Restore like the one I had just now. Sigh.