subject: How to restore windows registry if windows is not booting [print this page] How to restore windows registry if windows is not booting
If the Windows XP registry is so much corrupted that you are unable to start Windows even in safe mode, you can not use System Restore to restore your computer to its previous state. Another option left to you is to use Recovery Console to restore the registry backups contained in a restore point.
This will either require you to boot from a Windows XP Installation CD or boot directly to the Recovery Console if it is installed. . Do not use this procedure if your computer has an OEM-installed operating system as the system hive on OEM installations creates passwords and user accounts that did not exist previously. If you use the procedure described here, you may not be able to log back into the recovery console to restore the original registry hives.
Follow the steps given below to boot into the Recovery Console from a Windows XP Installation CD.
You need to insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer. Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM to make sure that the computer boot from CD.
When you see the "Welcome to Setup" screen, press R to start the Recovery Console.
Select the installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console, if you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer.
Type the Administrator password. If no password is set, just press ENTER.
At the recovery console, type the following commands:
CD C:
CD "system volume information\_resto~1"
DIR
Pick the restore point (RPt) you wish to use, for this you can use folder date stamps as a guide.
Enter the commands:
CD RPt (t is the restore point you have chosen)
CD SNAPSHOT
Copy the registry backups so that they overwrite the existing registry files:
