How to Manually Repair the Registry in Windows XP
- 1). Insert the Windows XP installation CD into the drive and reboot the computer. At the prompt, press a key to boot from the CD.
- 2). Press "R" at the startup screen to start the Recovery Console.
- 3). Type the administrator password when prompted. If no password exists, press Enter.
- 4). Type the following lines at the Recovery Console command prompt, pressing Enter after each line:
md tmp
copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\software c:\windows\tmp\software.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\security c:\windows\tmp\security.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\default c:\windows\tmp\default.bak
delete c:\windows\system32\config\system
delete c:\windows\system32\config\software
delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam
delete c:\windows\system32\config\security
delete c:\windows\system32\config\default
copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default - 5). Type "exit" to quit the Recovery Console and reboot the computer.
- 6). Make all folders visible by selecting "Make all folders visible" under "Folder Options" in the Tools menu in Windows Explorer.
- 7). Double-click the C drive and open the System Volume Information folder. Inside the System Volume folder, find a folder that was NOT created at the current system time. You may have to right-click on the particular folder and select "Details" to see when the folder was created.
- 8). Copy the following files from the Snapshot folder within an older folder:
_REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM
Paste these files into the C:\Windows\Tmp folder. - 9). Rename the files by removing everything up to and including the last underscore. In other words, rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM to SYSTEM and rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM to SAM.
- 10
Reboot the computer with the XP installation disc still in the drive. Start the Recovery Console as before. - 11
Type the following lines at the Recovery Console command prompt, pressing Enter after each line:
del c:\windows\system32\config\sam
del c:\windows\system32\config\security
del c:\windows\system32\config\software
del c:\windows\system32\config\default
del c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\tmp\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\tmp\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\tmp\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\tmp\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\tmp\default c:\windows\system32\config\default - 12
Type "exit." The computer will reboot. - 13
Select Programs from the Start menu. Click Accessories, and then select System Tools. Click System Restore, and then choose "Restore to a previous restore point."
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