From now on it is going to take some real convincing for me to waste my time making copious backup copies of my registry, before messing in there...so "everyone" tells us.

One problem...you cannot merge a saved registry copy back to the registry!

You get the error message that it cannot proceed because some keys are open and in use.

Well, yeah, ...duh! How in sam hill are you supposed to merge an entire backup?

I don't know how you are doing it but if you follow the directions from the people that designed it....

How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

I have backed up and restored many times the registry that I was editing. That is the purpose of doing the back-up!

It's a sure sign of not rtfm...

...and Lurkswithin has just supplied the link to it.

I am not asking "how to do a system restore" that is something different, by virtue of how its done then what I'm asking...is about doing a full resistry restore from an exported and saved full registry *.reg...and then at the propitious time, importing that same *.reg back into the full registry, just as it was when the exported file was made.

I don't think it can be done, save under safemode using Dos Command. Something I am not willing to attempt at present for fear of losing the whole shebang! But may be someone has a way to share...I'm going to do some more googling on the topic.

The Kosher Solution:

I. Creating a Windows registry back up:

1. Open the Windows Registry Editor.

a. Click Start > Run on the Windows desktop.

b. Type regedit in the Open field.

c. Press Enter or click OK.

The Windows Registry Editor appears.

2. Go to the menu bar and click Registry > Export.

3. Select the directory where the registry backup will be stored (e.g. \temp folder).

4. Enter a file name for the registry backup (e.g. regback1).

5. Check and make sure that the All radio button under Export Range is selected.

6. Click Save.

7. Verify if the backup was created in the specified location in Step 5.

II. Restoring the Windows registry backup:

1. Open the Windows Registry Editor.

a. Click Start > Run on the Windows desktop.

b. Type regedit in the Open field.

c. Press Enter or click OK.

The Windows Registry Editor appears.

2. In the menu bar, click Registry > Import.

3. Select the directory where the registry backup will be imported (e.g. \temp\regback1.reg).

4. Click Open.

5. Restart Windows to begin using the restored registry.

BUT IT DOES NOT WORK THIS WAY...IT WILL QUIT IF ANY OTHER KEYS ARE OPEN...SO HOW TO KILL THOSE KEYS???

where did you get that from.... and what operating system are you using.


Where ever it came from it is not the way to go to back up and restore the system state.
Backup (Ntbackup.exe) does allow you to restore to an alternate location, but it does not restore the "system state" in a form that will return the system to a working condition. This is because of the way the system state is collected and then processed later during the restore operation.

Maybe if you slow down a bit and follow the proper proceedures.

The NTBackup does not work all the time on my system. I went months without it working, then suddenly I was back in business. It's a Pro feature anyway, isn't it, and I have he Home Ed. What's the point of using it if it does not return your system state to "as was."

As to where I got the note...from a site that sounded as confident as you sound. You'll have to agree to disagree with them.

Tone down your "attitude" ...I'm not the enemy here. Life's too laughable to be so serious...hee-haw!!!

One can only follow proper proceedures, if the mechanics are there to be used. For whatever reason, I cannot partition my hard drive nor re-instate a full registry...and have not been able to do either for the three years that I have had this newer system [built for me on spec.]

Extensive research on the net has not turned up any solution.

P/S...I have 17 years experience with computers, software tester, and beta tester...but then, you probably carved your own computer out of wood , so what do I know?

My attitude is in line with your statements....you asked for help on the subject and I gave you the correct answer but that didn't go with your thinking so you start making it sound as I am the one that is wrong...The correct method of doing a full back-up of the registry is as noted from the microsoft website...to use system restore....there is no other method that is dependable for full restoration of a back-up registry.

The only reason that you have not been able to do the things that you are wanting to do is that you don't have the knowledge to do it and are too damn hardheaded to read and learn the PROPER PROCEEDURE for doing it.
There are simple rules that have to be observed but you seem to think that your 17 years of experience allows you to by-pass those simple rules of proceedure. You are only willing to see what you want to see and not the truth of what is/needs to be done.

Research is what is needed to find the truth about something or to find the solution to the problem...it is not a thing to put in a few words of the question and get no answers then rewrite the question and look again...but that again goes to the bit about you only wanting to see what you want to be there and not the answer itself.

I find it most extremely hard to fathom your beta testing software for 17 years and can't pick up the simplest rules of how to use the search engines properly or to even corespond in a proper manner to a design tech as to what the problem is...or why something don't or can't work the way you want it to.....

Simple google search for " restoring registry backup" brings up 233,000 possible answer and the first ones are generally the most popular answer...just a short bit of reading and one is told what to do to back-up the registry and how to restore it and guess wht...Microsoft's answer is the number 2 on the list. Now that is a simple search with the correct answer in plain site....what was so hard about that?

Maybe "How to use NTBACKUP.EXE" should have been the next logical choice...wow number one answer of 18,400 and it is from the people that designed the program....wow. and it tells you the same exact thing I did in this thread!...
Imagine that!

I am sorry that you have so much pent up aggression in you. On the other hand, I have a clear conscience. Have a nice day

Again all you see is what you want to see....from wikipedia...In psychology and other social and behavioral sciences, aggression refers to behavior that is intended to cause harm or pain.

There was no intent on my part to harm you, I could care less about you as it is my firm belief that in this wide world web one can be anything they wish to be. As such, if you feel the need to be harmed with or by the truth of what others say about your actions then so be it.

If you need help ask for it, but don't get your underpants all in a knot because you don't like the answer.

Lurkswithin, it's pointless trying to get through to idiots like this one. He / she is a wanker...