Where is old XP registry after reinstall?

  • Thread starter Thread starter geronimo
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geronimo

I have Win XP Pro SP2. It crashed completely. I could not get into
safe mode to do a rollback. it would not even run in safe mode. I
tried to do a repair install, that would not work either, so I had to
do a full reinstall. However, I did not reformat any drive, and I left
the original WINDOWS operating system directory alone. I created a new
OS directory called WINDOWS2. So it is the Windows in this directory
that is running now.
Well, I am having problems with addon programs installing correctly
into FS 2004, because I think they are looking into my new registry
for the location of FS 2004, rather than searching the drives, and
not finding the normal registry entries...they are of course gone.
Reinstalling FS2004 is not an option, due to the huge number of
addons, customizations I have installed. So the question is, does my
old registry still exist? What should name and path be? Its *.reg,
isn't it? If it still exists, I figure I can open it, use FIND to find
references to FS 2004, edit drive letter as needed, and reinsert into
the new registry. Then perhaps the new addons I am trying to install
(which don't have an option to point them to where the FS 2004
installation is) will be able to find Fs 2004 and work properly.
Right?
 
geronimo said:
I have Win XP Pro SP2. It crashed completely. I could not get into
safe mode to do a rollback. it would not even run in safe mode. I
tried to do a repair install, that would not work either, so I had
to do a full reinstall. However, I did not reformat any drive, and
I left the original WINDOWS operating system directory alone. I
created a new OS directory called WINDOWS2. So it is the Windows
in this directory that is running now. Well, I am having problems
with addon programs installing correctly into FS 2004, because I
think they are looking into my new registry for the location of FS
2004, rather than searching the drives, and not finding the
normal registry entries...they are of course gone. Reinstalling
FS2004 is not an option,
Click to expand...

Says who?
due to the huge number of addons, customizations I have
installed.
Click to expand...

Just make sure you have removable media copies of any important
files from your computer.

You could try opening up the hard disk drive and look for the
registry entries in there.

No, don't do that.
 
The Registry is not in ONE single place unfortunately. That would be far
too sensible for Microsoft!
Check this location: %SystemRoot%\System32\Config\: for most of the
files,
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE are there for example.
User settings are in ntuser.dat which is stored elsewhere, probably "My
Documents" of your OLD installation. I have never done this though,
because I have heard that it is fairly hopeless.

It is NOT as easy as locating these files and importing into your new
registry, especially not since you have put Windows in a directory with
another name. Basically, this is a lost cause unless you are a Windows
gury with endless amounts of time.

Re-installing a fresh Windows does this, unfortunately! Try your best
never to re-install.

This is why most experienced people keep a separate partition or hard
drive for stuff that they don't want to loose, including most of the
Program installations.
Then at least you've not lost your files, only your settings. A lot of
well written programs do not need to be - re-installed since they keep
all their files nearby rather than over using Windows for storage and
settings. This is true for Firefox and Netscape Navigator for example.

As soon as you get lax about it and stop applying good practices, that's
when Win will let you down....

You can back up your registry though and keep a copy of the backup away
from harms way/ You can read up on this online.

Also when you have got your system as you want it software vise, ghost
it and save the image.
Sorry not to be able to help you more - basically it is a lost cause.
Jo
 
Johanna said:
The Registry is not in ONE single place unfortunately. That would
be far too sensible for Microsoft!
Click to expand...

Sensible IMO would be to keep all program information in the program
folder.
Check this location: %SystemRoot%\System32\Config\: for most of
the files, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE are there for example. User settings
are in ntuser.dat which is stored elsewhere, probably "My
Documents" of your OLD installation. I have never done this
though, because I have heard that it is fairly hopeless.

It is NOT as easy as locating these files and importing into your
new registry, especially not since you have put Windows in a
directory with another name. Basically, this is a lost cause
unless you are a Windows gury with endless amounts of time.

Re-installing a fresh Windows does this, unfortunately! Try your
best never to re-install.
Click to expand...

Reinstalling Windows helps in lots of situations. That is if you
can't just replace it with a copy.
This is why most experienced people keep a separate partition or
hard drive for stuff that they don't want to loose, including most
of the Program installations.
Click to expand...

In my past experience with Windows, I kept program files on a
separate partition. Someday I might practice that again. But for
now, I find that keeping a backup copy of my windows partition (well
developed but not necessarily including large programs) still works
best for anything except hard drive failure. If I had a single
application that meant everything to me, I would include that in the
hidden copy.

For me, Windows has grown so large and installation has become such
a chore, just having a well developed basic installation backed up
is enough. As long as you have the space (me on a 37 GB hard drive),
if things are going very well, you can always make a fresh copy.
Then at least you've not lost your files, only your settings.
Click to expand...

Program files can be found on CDs or on the Internet. Personal files
should always be copied to removable media, encrypted if necessary.
A lot of well written programs do not need to be - re-installed
since they keep all their files nearby rather than over using
Windows for storage and settings. This is true for Firefox and
Netscape Navigator for example.
Click to expand...

I wish all programs would keep all of their information in a program
folder. I see no real reason to do otherwise.
As soon as you get lax about it and stop applying good practices,
that's when Win will let you down....
Click to expand...

Then or randomly.
You can back up your registry though and keep a copy of the backup
away from harms way/ You can read up on this online.
Click to expand...

Microsoft utility's work half the time when you really need them.
Also when you have got your system as you want it software vise,
ghost it and save the image.
Click to expand...

In my opinion, that's the only way to cope with Windows. And you
need to practice restoring the thing.

Good luck and have fun.
 
You did WHAT? I would seriously suggest that you redo it properly and
reformat the hardrive and do a fresh SINGLE install of the OS. Your current
problems are only beginning...
 
I'm with Dave. It's a pain, but in the long run, it'll save you time. I
use 4 patitions. OS, programs, Data, and media.
Mike
 
Hmmm your post made me think, John (?). I am not exactly practicing what
I am
preaching. Most of the Windows practices that I (still) use, I picked up
back in
the NT4/2k/Win98 days .I have not bothered to change my habits.

Although I customise my XP to look pretty and stylish on the surface, I
still
essentially use it as if it was an NT4 box that I am doing programming
or tech support on. Nowadays my usage is quite lightweight though, just
a bit of Dreamweaver, design and web tools.

Perhaps it is time to change. It is very annoying
that I constantly have to do housekeeping on my 7GB C drive. It is
really far too small. Also installing on D adds an extra step to all
installations (e.g stop to change C:\ to D:\ ).

I don't use a virus checker because I feel they are a nuisance,
intervene and slow down the machine. This is also a habit, I haven't
tried installing one for ages. They may have moved on a lot.
I count on that th firewall and common sense is enough.
I run a manual virus check online if something worries me. I have never
had a virus on
my home PC. Am I playing with fire...

I don't back up anything froom C: other than bookmarks - I am just
counting on my
D drive and USB storage staying intact if the C drive goes down or
Windows dies. The hard drive is 3 years old now though.... Hmmm what's
the average life span of them..?

Just too lazy to set this up myself with free software like Ghost, or
even reading up on what is available in XP. I am too cheap to buy a
package that would do it through a wizard and I don't like this
supposedly user friendly stuff anyway. (While I get distracted by the
clever graphics it goes ahead and changes all sorts of things on my PC
without checking with me.)

Plus my skills in Linux leave a lot to be desired although, in theory,
that is what I'd like to be running.
I am put off by the learning curve though, and stuck in my Windows
'comfort zone". Just as Microsoft intended no doubt!

geek girl
Jo
 
geronimo said:
I have Win XP Pro SP2. It crashed completely. I could not get into
safe mode to do a rollback. it would not even run in safe mode. I
tried to do a repair install, that would not work either, so I had to
do a full reinstall. However, I did not reformat any drive, and I left
the original WINDOWS operating system directory alone. I created a new
OS directory called WINDOWS2. So it is the Windows in this directory
that is running now.
Well, I am having problems with addon programs installing correctly
into FS 2004, because I think they are looking into my new registry
for the location of FS 2004, rather than searching the drives, and
not finding the normal registry entries...they are of course gone.
Reinstalling FS2004 is not an option, due to the huge number of
addons, customizations I have installed. So the question is, does my
old registry still exist? What should name and path be? Its *.reg,
isn't it? If it still exists, I figure I can open it, use FIND to find
references to FS 2004, edit drive letter as needed, and reinsert into
the new registry. Then perhaps the new addons I am trying to install
(which don't have an option to point them to where the FS 2004
installation is) will be able to find Fs 2004 and work properly.
Right?
Click to expand...

FS puts literally hundreds of entries (with all the add-ons) in the
registry. There is one possible solution that might work and save you some
hours. Copy your FS folder over to the new /programs folder and try to
reinstall FS over the old installation. If it asks you to uninstall first,
go ahead and do it as it will not uninstall your add-on AC, scenery and
other stuff. This will get the registry entries into your new Windows
install. I would get rid of the old OS install by deleting it or whatever
and do a repair install of your new one and get everything back to normal.
Having those two side by side installs of Windows is going to be nothing but
a headache as long as they are there.

Ed
 
That is a great idea, just reinstall over the old FS9, presto!...all
registry entires back. I am not sure what will happen to the FS9a
patch that is installed....seems like it would get undone. But I was
thinking that it is also going to give me a new/default scenery.cfg,
airlines.cfg, (and possibly more important .cfg's) if I reinstall FS9
over the old FS. Also a lot of the original texture files have been
replaced by scenery addons, and it would undo those as well, would it
not? SO I am thinking there would still have to be a lot of old
(customized) files put back in to get it like it was. But I do have
plenty of HDD space to back up the existing FS installation.
Thanks, Geronimo
 
Johanna <johanna nospam.org> wrote:

....
I don't use a virus checker because I feel they are a nuisance,
intervene and slow down the machine. This is also a habit, I
haven't tried installing one for ages. They may have moved on a
lot. I count on that th firewall and common sense is enough.
I run a manual virus check online if something worries me. I have
never had a virus on my home PC. Am I playing with fire...
Click to expand...

I don't either. Then again, having a copy of important files and
having a hidden copy of Windows means I don't have to do much work
when I get a virus.

Every few days I go here for a free checkup.
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp
I don't know if that's accessible across the pond.
 
FYI, I discovered that tweak-fs (I think the site is tweakfs.com)
has a utility for fixing the FS9 path registry entry. I ran it, and it
fixed FS in seconds. It scans the registry and checks to see if the
entry is there and you can check it to see of correct.If not, you
manually locate where it is, press button, and it puts the correct
entry back in. Worked fine, now the addons that refused to install
earlier installed sucessfully. Saved LOTS of work!
 
There is a free app called FS registry path fixer.... I ran that, and
it put the correct FS9 entries back into my registry. Problem solved,
all my FS addons are now installing OK. Regards, Geronimo
 
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