The registry is the central part of the system data and the one most likely to cause problems. It contains all information about installed software, drivers, plugins, updates, and more. After countless edits due to software being added, changed or removed, errors and bad entries pile up in the registry. This can make your computer slow or even unstable.

Here are 3 ways to backup the registry, two of them along with other critical system data.

1. Export Specific Registry Keys

If you are going to make changes to a specific registry key, you can selectively export or restore this key.

Backup

Click > Start > Run, type > regedit and click > OK. The registry editor will open.

Select the key you wish to backup, right-click to open the menu and click > Export.

Enter a name for the REG file and save it to a safe location.

In the same fashion you can export an entire registry branch or the registry as a whole.

Restore

To restore, you simply double-click the backed up REG file and it will automatically update the registry with its contents.

2. System State Backup

Windows XP Pro and other NT based Windows versions have an internal backup feature, which can be used to backup essential system data, including the Boot file, the COM+ class registration database, and the registry.

Backup

Go to > Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Backup Option.

The Backup or Restore Wizard will open. Click and switch to > Advanced Mode and open the > Backup tab.

Select the files you would like to backup, in this case > System State, which can be found under > My Computer.

Be sure a path is displayed under > Backup media or file name. If this is not the case, click > Browse… and select a destination. You can also change the name of the backup file. Then click > Start Backup.

A window summarizing the backup data will open. Change the backup description and eventually make further settings. Then click > Start once more. This backup can take up to 5 minutes.

Restore

To restore a system state backup, open the Backup or Restore Wizard in Advanced Mode as described above.

Switch to the > Restore and Manage Media tab. Your previous backups should be listed. Select the one you would like to restore and click > Restore Backup.

3. System Restore Point

When you set a system restore point, several files are saved, including files in the Windows File Protection (Dllcache) folder, the local user profile, COM+ and WMI databases, IIS metabase, all files that are monitored due to their file extension and the registry.

With a system restore point you can return to a previous system state. This can be helpful in case changes to the registry, new drivers or program installations have caused damage. Your personal documents, such as browser bookmarks, eMails or photos are not affected.

Backup

To create a system restore point manually, click > Start > Run, type > %SystemRoot%\System32\restore\rstrui.exe and click OK to launch the tool.

On the welcome page select > Create a restore point and click > Next. On the following page enter a name for this restore point and click > Create.

Stefan recently reviewed a tool called Single Click Restore Point, which significantly speeds up this process.

Restore

To restore previous computer settings and an older registry, you open the System Restore welcome page as described above, select > Restore my computer to an earlier time and click > Next.

On the subsequent page select a recent system restore point from the calendar and click > Next.

The Confirm Restore Point Selection page displays the restore point you chose. Click > Next to continue. Your computer will now start to restore the previous Windows XP configuration and reboot.

If you’re running into issues after installing hot fixes or patches from Microsoft, you might want to know How To Roll Back Windows Hot Fixes & Patches in XP. Fortunately, Sharninder has explained it in a recent article.

Did you ever ruin your system or the registry to the point where only a backup could save it?

Image credits: flaivoloka

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You can download and install Fbackup from here. Once installed, you can create backup jobs to quickly backup the files you want.

Create a job, specify the destination you want to backup to (local, external or network), specify the directories, include or exclude files using wildcards, encrypt and password protect the backed up files and you have a backup job set up.

You can then specify if you want to run any actions before or after the backup and schedule when you want to run your backups. So far so good, it does pretty much everything you would expect of a backup program. But wait, there is more, something that sets Fbackup apart from other backup software out there.

Its the plugins. Fbackup supports plugins that help you take better backups of your program data. What is program data, you ask? As an example let’s consider Firefox, all the extensions you install, bookmarks you create and other tweaks and customizations you perform — constitute the program data for Firefox. Something that doesn’t come with the software, and something you might lose if your hard drive crashes or if you re-install the operating system.

The savvy users would suggest to take backups of the %APPDATA% directory, that would include program data for a number of your programs. However, Fbackup makes the task even easier and almost a no-brainer with the help of plugins.

All you have to do is visit the plug-ins page (it’s for Fbackup and Backup4All-another backup solution from the same developer but not free) and download the required plugin. There are plugins for a wide range of software.

You can find plugins for Firefox, iTunes, RoboForm, Pidgin, Photoshop, Picasa to mention a few. Each plugin gives you a simple way to backup your profile/settings in that program so that you can easily restore it later.

Once you get plugin on your side of the tubes, go to Tool > Plugins. You can add, remove, enable disable the plugins from in here. With the plugins added, you can now find the corresponding entry under the sources tab when setting up backup jobs. Here is an example with the Firefox backup plugin installed:

Fbackup really makes it easy to backup program data along with other important files. The interface is clean and easy for the regular user without too many options.

It would be interesting to know what backup solution you would use? Would you consider Fbackup for its plugin and ease of use? Sound off in the comments and assuage our curiosity!

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Using System Restore assures you that you won’t lose personal data such as documents, e-mail settings and messages. However, keep in mind that data you have stored in My Documents, My Pictures, or My Music folders are not affected by System Restore.

Today, I am going to introduce you one tool that can be used to create Windows System restore point with a single click of a button.

To simply and easily create System Restore points, you can use Single Click Restore Point. Just run SCRP with administrator privileges and it will automatically create a restore point for you – no need to dig through the menus. The only caveat is that you can’t name the restore points yourself, they’re all called “Created by SCRP Tool”. In my experience, SCRP does the job and makes it more convenient for less tech-savvy users. All you need to do is double-click on the application and a resulting window pops up:

To restore your computer to an earlier time in Windows XP, log in as an administrator, and then follow these steps:

1. Click Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools, and then click System Restore.
2. On the Welcome screen, click Restore my computer to an earlier time, and then click Next. You can also click on Create Restore Point to manually create a backup of the system files. This backup will appear along with the other automatically generated backups.
3. On the Select a Restore Point page, select the date from the calendar that shows the point you’d like to restore to.
4. On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, check to see if you selected the right restore point.
5. Click Next if you are ready to continue or click Back to change the restore point.
6. The computer will automatically shut down and reboot. On reboot, you’ll see the Restoration Complete page.

If you’re happy with how the system is behaving after the restore, you don’t have to do anything else. If not, just open System Restore and select Undo my last restoration on the System Restore Welcome page. If your computer doesn’t boot normally, you might have to use Safe Mode to access System Restore. To access Safe Mode, press F8 key during reboot and choose Safe Mode.

In Windows Vista and 7, all you have to do is type System Restore in the search bar within the Start Menu. You’ll will be presented with the most recent restore point in the windows that appears. If you want to choose another restore point made earlier, click Choose Another Restore Point and Next. After you’ve selected the restore point you want, just click Finish. Your computer will automatically restore the required system files and restart.

To manually create a restore point, open Advanced System Settings (by typing this into the Start Menu) and select the System Protection tab. Once there, click on Create.

Did you find this tutorial handy? What other programs do you use to manage your restore points? Let me know in the comments.

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Installing the latest patch or Hot fix is highly recommended if you want to keep your installation in tip-top shape.

These patches are mostly harmless but there are times when your current configuration, hardware or software might not be compatible with a particular patch and you find that out only when your system starts misbehaving after you’ve applied the patch.

The new patch might not be compatible with your current hardware. An ancient software that you still use and love might stop working with the new patch. In times like these, one really wishes that Microsoft had a built in patch rollback mechanism. Are you one of those wishing for such a feature ?

Well, the good news is that Microsoft already has mechanisms to roll back patches. The bad news is that the roll back procedure is just not that obvious.

Roll back a patch on Windows XP

If you’re using Windows XP, browse to the Windows install directory, typically c:\WINDOWS and enable the hidden files view using the Tools -> Folder Options menu option.

You should now be able to see a bunch of hidden folders under the main c:\WINDOWS folder. All the folders which have names of the form of $NTServicePackxxxx, $NTUninstallxxxx and $NTUninstallKBxxxx are folders corresponding to the different patches that you’ve installed.

The folders with KB in their name followed by a 5 or 6 digit number are hot fixes which Microsoft has released in response to a bug and the number denotes the corresponding Microsoft knowledge base article associated with that hot fix.

Now, to uninstall a particular patch, go inside the folder corresponding to that patch. You will see another folder named spuninst. Inside this folder will be a Windows setup executable of the same name.

This is the Uninstaller program for the particular patch that you’re browsing right now. Just run the program and the patch will be rolled back and your system will be as pristine as it was before you applied the patch.

Roll back a patch on Windows Vista

I am using Windows Vista on my primary work machine these days and on this machine, I couldn’t find the $NTUninstall folders but I found another way to roll back patches on Vista – System Restore.

Windows Vista, by default, takes a snapshot of a system before applying any patches using a feature called System Restore.

To roll back a patch using System Restore, click on the Start menu and start System Restore using the All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools menu item.

System Restore is a wizard based utility which lets you chose the restore point and brings the system back to the chosen state.

If you want to restore your system to a point earlier than the recommended restore point, then select the second radio button and you will be able to see a list of the restore points Vista has available for you to roll back to.

This is definitely the easiest method to roll back a wayward patch or hotfix.

Have you guys ever had to roll back a patch ? How did you do it ? Let us know in the comments.

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When you proceed with an unattended installation, you do still have to manually select the drive where you wish to install Windows (during the blue screen portion of the setup). However, once you’ve done that and started the installation you can walk away, grab a cup of coffee, eat some french toast, brush your teeth, check the weather, and by the time you get back you’ll see your new Windows XP desktop.

To create an unattended disk, you will of course need a Windows XP installation disk. You will also need to download nLite. nLite is a free program that allows you to create customized XP installation disks. Customizations you can perform include the integration of service packs, Windows updates, addition of drivers, preselection of installation options, preselection of components to install, and even more.

As a first step to unattended windows setup reference, you will need to get the latest Windows XP updates for your installation disk. Which updates you will need depends on how old your installation disk is. If you have a very old disk, you may need to download service pack 3 in addition to the updates that have taken place since the release of service pack 3. In the installation instructions below, you will learn how to find out whether or not Service Pack 3 is included on your installation disk.

Launch nLite, select your language, and click Next. Click the browse button to navigate to your the location of your installation CD. You will then be prompted for a location on the hard disk to store the files for processing. Select where you want to store the files and wait for the files to be copied.

Once the files have completed copying, nLite will detect what version of Windows XP is on the installation CD. If it says the installation has Service Pack 3, then you will not need to download the service pack. Otherwise you can download the service pack here. Proceed to the next step.

Since this is the first time you’ve run nLite, you will not have any presets. Just click Next to advance to the Task Selection page. On the task selection page, select Hotfixes, Add-ons, and Update Packs, Unattended, and Bootable ISO. If you had to download Service Pack 3 because you have an older version, select Service Pack as well.

If you are feeling adventurous, you can also include Drivers, select Components for removal, select Options, and Tweaks as well. These are more advanced options that will not be discussed in this particular How-To. Click the Next button to proceed.

If you need to integrate Service Pack 3, you will advance to the Service Pack page. Select the location of where you downloaded Service Pack 3. Once you’re done, click Next to advance to Hotfixes, Add-ons, and Update Packs.

Click the Insert button (in nLite, not on your keyboard) and navigate to the location of the update pack. Click Next to proceed to the Unattended settings. In order to avoid any interaction with the installation (other than selecting/formatting the hard drive in the blue screens), you will need to update the following:

• General Tab: Set Unattended Mode to Hide Pages
• General Tab: Enter your Product Key
• Users Tab: Password for the Administrator login (or check Blank password)
• User Tab: Add a new User and set the password (or check Blank password)
• User Tab: Set the Autologon to the new user you just added
• Owner and Network ID Tab: Computer Name
• Owner and Network ID Tab: Workgroup
• Owner and Network ID Tab: Full Name
• Owner and Network ID Tab: Organization
• Regional Tab: Timezone

Once you’ve updated those settings, and any others you would like to update, click Next. Continue when prompted if you would like to start the process. When the process is complete, click Next to proceed to the Bootable ISO section.

Under Mode, select whether you want to Create an Image or perform a Direct Burn to a CD. Direct Burn is probably the easier choice, because nLite will write it directly to disk. When you’ve made your selection click Make ISO. If you decide to burn to an image, use your favorite image burning software to write it to a disk.

That’s all there is to it! Just take the disk, pop it into the target machine, boot it up, select where you want to install/format, and then go take a little walk. Upon your return, your machine will have a fresh installation of Windows XP running on it!

Have you made unattended installation disks before? If so, what tools did you use and where did you obtain your update packs and addons?

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But then again it’s a delight to work on a freshly installed machine, where everything is smooth and responds quickly. But customization is tedious. And when your hard drive decides to break spontaneously, time is something you won’t have for sure.

For emergencies it’s better you have a data and a system backup available. Here are the 5 best tools to clone or copy your hard drive in no particular order.

Paragon’s Drive Backup Express (Windows)

This software is the easy solution to clone your hard drive . It’s comfortable to use with a sleek interface that guides you through the whole process of backing up and restoring step by step. And while a backup is running in the background you can even proceed using your system.

Both Drive Backup Express and DriveImage XML (described below) require a bootable CD, which the user has to create independently.

I have previously written about Drive Backup Express and thoroughly explained how it works here.

DriveImage XML (Windows)

In contrast to Drive Backup Express, DriveImage XML is a visually very basic tool. However, it reliably creates images of logical drives and partitions and restores these to either the originating or a different hard disk.

Like Drive Backup Express, DriveImage XML applies a cloning technique that allows parallel use of the system while the backup is running. It can also do incremental backups, supplementing existing backups with what was changed in the meantime. Additionally, images can be restored without having to reboot.

CloneZilla (cross platform)

CloneZilla is an open source and cross platform tool to make a copy of a hard drive and also to restore them afterwards.

It’s a tough tool for non nerds as it requires some background knowledge. First of all it’s not a software you install on your computer. You download CloneZilla in form of an ISO image or ZIP file and burn the image to a CD or load the files onto a USB flash drive or hard drive.

The next step is to reboot the computer from that medium you created, which may require going into the BIOS and allow booting from a CD or USB device.

Once the tool is running, it’s easy to use the simple interface to initiate or restore a backup. There also is sort of a screenshot walkthrough on the CloneZilla homepage, where you can view some of the options before running the tool.

XXCLONE (Windows)

XXCLONE is Windows software. The tool can create a self-bootable clone of a Windows drive as well as full backups of non-system volumes. Basically, it can make a hard drive image.

The interface is basic and clear. When started, the tool scans for available volumes and you can then choose a source and target volume from these. A direct link to the Windows Disk Management is provided through the “diskmgmt” button. Under the “Tool Cools” tab you can make use of options such as making the target volume self-bootable, manage restore points or create a batch file to save your current settings for future re-use.

The download section of the website provides a thorough help file that contains screenshots and descriptions of all features.

EASEUS Disk Copy (cross platform)

EASEUS Disk Copy creates sector by sector clones of partitions or hard disks, independent of operating system, file systems or partition scheme. It’s a versatile tool for both the novice and experienced user.

Just like CoolZilla, it’s not installed locally, rather the ISO image is burned to a bootable CD or DVD.

The website is probably the best of all tools described here. The information is thorough and very clear, including a very detailed help section that will walk you through every aspect of the program.

Do you clone and copy your hard drive? If so, which program do you use? Can you recommend any particular program to us? Let us know in the comments.

Picture credits: CraigPJ

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To me this is not a tedious task, I actually quite enjoy the process. But the thing is that setting up a system from scratch, plus restoring personal settings, user data and backups, takes a lot of time. Sometimes you may not have the time. Thus, for emergencies it’s always wise to have a quick fix better than a Knoppix CD. There are two ways…

Create a System Image

If you currently have a stable and smoothly running system, you can create an image of your system. This is the most comfortable solution because it incorporates all your personal settings and preferences.

The tool of choice here is Paragon’s Drive Backup Express. It’s a model piece of software: fast, intuitive user interface, thorough documentation, and it’s free. OK, the happy guy next to the menu is a little too much.

To install the program you need to obtain a free serial, which means you have to register with Paragon using a valid eMail address. I think for a software of this quality that’s a reasonable thing to ask for.

The setup is straightforward, no more surprises. The menu is the first thing that comes up when the program is loaded. Since Drive Backup uses hot backup technology, backups can run while the computer is being used, which makes it very comfortable to use. Unfortunately, the free version does not offer scheduled backups.

Step 1: Select what you want to back up.

Step 2: Start, sit back and wait or continue working.

Step 3: Check the file for validity.

Step 4: Build recovery media for the case that you cannot boot your computer.
This can be a flash memory stick or a CD/DVD disk. When using a USB stick please be aware that all files currently on the stick will be removed. The stick will become a dedicated recovery medium, so you should get a separate one for this purpose.

Step 5: Disaster!
In case of disaster, insert your recovery medium, start your computer, make sure the BIOS lets you boot from your USB stick or CD/DVD drive, start the recovery program on the stick and launch the Simple Restore Wizard. The whole procedure is very, very well documented in the user guide and it really isn’t complicated. However, if you want to be super safe, print it.

When I tried to run the recovery, I had slight issues using the normal mode. The program would freeze half way through loading from CD. So I tried the safe mode and again had some issues, this time with hard drive i/o errors. However, the program continued and once it listed all detected partitions and drives I quickly located the backup file and ran a restoration on my old laptop without any further problems.

Create a Custom Installation CD

If creating an image from a running system is not an option, you can at least prepare an installation CD that will spare you the hassle of manually adding user accounts, drivers, software, and more.

A great tool for this task is Vitali Graf’s Windows Unattended CD Creator. What you need is a valid Windows CD and all the software, drivers, patches and hotfixes you wish to include in your custom CD. The program also requires Net Framework 1.1 or 2.0 installed. For the creation of the CD you will naturally need software and respective hardware able to burn ISO images on CD or DVD, and a blank disk.

What’s your ritual for restoring your operating system? Which strategies and tools are you applying?

(By) Tina is a regular MUO author. In her offline life she’s a PhD student interested in unraveling signaling events that determine cartilage and bone development.

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