Restoring from an unbootable Win2K

  • Thread starter Thread starter H. Debs
  • Start date Start date
H

H. Debs

I've had some problems in the past where I get the message that the
file SYSTEM (i.e. the registry) is corrupt and I can't boot Win2K. So
I decided to schedule system state backups using the standard backup
tool (ntbackup.exe). I've made it such that I have 3 backup files
(backed up on a hard disk) every week, one each Mon, Wed, Fri.

I'm very pleased with myself for achieving that (am very new to backup
business), but I'm not sure what to do with those backups! <g> (since
ntbackup.exe can't restore files).
What do I do if I do get that corrupt registry problem in the future?
Could someone please outline the steps I must do to get my system to
boot into Win2K again in such a case, and fully restore the registry
(system state... whatever that means exactly)?

Thanks.
 
If you run Programs|Accessories|System Tools|Backup, then choose ERD, then
if you check the box for "Also backup....", then the reg will also be backed
up to
%windir%\repair\RegBack
leaving the
%windir%\repair\
directory files intact as original installation.

Repair, Recovery, and Restore
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/samplechapters/fndc/fndc_rec_uctu.asp

From the recovery console you can copy the hives you wish to restore from;

%windir%\repair\regback
to
%windir%\system32\config\

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks.
Press ENTER at the "Setup Notification" screen. Press R to repair a Windows
2000 installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The
Recovery Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do
not have the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Once the password has been
validated, you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access
to the hard disk. You can only access the following folders on your
computer: %systemroot% and %windir%

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]
Microsoft Certified Professional [Windows 2000]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect


:
| I've had some problems in the past where I get the message that the
| file SYSTEM (i.e. the registry) is corrupt and I can't boot Win2K. So
| I decided to schedule system state backups using the standard backup
| tool (ntbackup.exe). I've made it such that I have 3 backup files
| (backed up on a hard disk) every week, one each Mon, Wed, Fri.
|
| I'm very pleased with myself for achieving that (am very new to backup
| business), but I'm not sure what to do with those backups! <g> (since
| ntbackup.exe can't restore files).
| What do I do if I do get that corrupt registry problem in the future?
| Could someone please outline the steps I must do to get my system to
| boot into Win2K again in such a case, and fully restore the registry
| (system state... whatever that means exactly)?
|
| Thanks.
|
|
 
Dave,

Thanks for the quick reply.

If I understood it correctly from that article you pointed me to:

1) My 3 backups a week are actually overwriting each other, since
those are always stored in the WINNT\repair\RegBack folder, so I end
up with only 1 backup copy. I was trying to get 3 backups of the
registry per week, in case the backed up registry is itself bad (I was
thinking of being able to restore the registry not only in cases when
the system refuses to boot, but also if I or some program messed up
some settings -- as they say "always backup the registry before...")
Do you have a solution to get 3 true registry backups per week or 4
per month? (I suppose I could just make 4 different .bat files that
actually copy the files to different folders and schedule the batch
files to run instead of ntbackup).

2) Ntbackup backs up about 1700 files to the .bkf file at the location
I specify (but not the registry apparently). These, I suppose, are
what is called the "system state"? Are they the files listed in
Winnt\repair\setup.log (also placed on the ERD)?
In the article, they seem to refer to "system state" only together
with Win2000 *Server*. I only have Win2000 Pro, so do I need to back
up these files too? When do I need to restore them? Do I restore
them using ntbackup myself or will the Recovery Console (or other
repair procedure from the CD) find and use them?

3) The last ERD I made was in july 2003. The file dates on the
diskette also have that date. I just recreated the ERD (on the same
diskette), but the file dates did not change. I checked the
Winnt\Repair folder for those same files and they also still have the
july 2003 dates (I think this was the last time I reinstalled/repaired
Win2000). Is this normal? (They seem to say to recreate the ERD
after updating the OS or installing new drivers, and I've done both
since that date).

Thanks again for your precious help!

Regards,

H. Debs



Dave Patrick said:
If you run Programs|Accessories|System Tools|Backup, then choose ERD, then
if you check the box for "Also backup....", then the reg will also be backed
up to
%windir%\repair\RegBack
leaving the
%windir%\repair\
directory files intact as original installation.

Repair, Recovery, and Restore
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/samplechapters/fndc/fndc_rec_uctu.asp

From the recovery console you can copy the hives you wish to restore from;

%windir%\repair\regback
to
%windir%\system32\config\

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks.
Press ENTER at the "Setup Notification" screen. Press R to repair a Windows
2000 installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The
Recovery Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do
not have the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Once the password has been
validated, you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access
to the hard disk. You can only access the following folders on your
computer: %systemroot% and %windir%

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]
Microsoft Certified Professional [Windows 2000]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect


:
| I've had some problems in the past where I get the message that the
| file SYSTEM (i.e. the registry) is corrupt and I can't boot Win2K. So
| I decided to schedule system state backups using the standard backup
| tool (ntbackup.exe). I've made it such that I have 3 backup files
| (backed up on a hard disk) every week, one each Mon, Wed, Fri.
|
| I'm very pleased with myself for achieving that (am very new to backup
| business), but I'm not sure what to do with those backups! <g> (since
| ntbackup.exe can't restore files).
| What do I do if I do get that corrupt registry problem in the future?
| Could someone please outline the steps I must do to get my system to
| boot into Win2K again in such a case, and fully restore the registry
| (system state... whatever that means exactly)?
|
| Thanks.
|
|
Click to expand...
 
:
| Dave,
|
| Thanks for the quick reply.
|
| If I understood it correctly from that article you pointed me to:
|
| 1) My 3 backups a week are actually overwriting each other, since
| those are always stored in the WINNT\repair\RegBack folder, so I end
| up with only 1 backup copy. I was trying to get 3 backups of the
| registry per week, in case the backed up registry is itself bad (I was
| thinking of being able to restore the registry not only in cases when
| the system refuses to boot, but also if I or some program messed up
| some settings -- as they say "always backup the registry before...")
| Do you have a solution to get 3 true registry backups per week or 4
| per month? (I suppose I could just make 4 different .bat files that
| actually copy the files to different folders and schedule the batch
| files to run instead of ntbackup).
* Yes in order to have the three backups you require you'll need to copy
them manually, through script or other means.


| 2) Ntbackup backs up about 1700 files to the .bkf file at the location
| I specify (but not the registry apparently). These, I suppose, are
| what is called the "system state"? Are they the files listed in
| Winnt\repair\setup.log (also placed on the ERD)?
| In the article, they seem to refer to "system state" only together
| with Win2000 *Server*. I only have Win2000 Pro, so do I need to back
| up these files too? When do I need to restore them? Do I restore
| them using ntbackup myself or will the Recovery Console (or other
| repair procedure from the CD) find and use them?
* This link may help on the restore procedures.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/en/server/help/ntbackup_restore_sysstate.htm


| 3) The last ERD I made was in july 2003. The file dates on the
| diskette also have that date. I just recreated the ERD (on the same
| diskette), but the file dates did not change. I checked the
| Winnt\Repair folder for those same files and they also still have the
| july 2003 dates (I think this was the last time I reinstalled/repaired
| Win2000). Is this normal? (They seem to say to recreate the ERD
| after updating the OS or installing new drivers, and I've done both
| since that date).
* The files on the floppy are just pointers. The files in the Winnt\Repair
folder are an image of the registy at th time the OS was installed. When you
update the ERD and also check the box for "Also backup....", then the reg
will also be backed
up to
%windir%\repair\RegBack


--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]
Microsoft Certified Professional [Windows 2000]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect
 
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