This tip is useful for those users who have a habit of corrupting the 2K/XP Registry.

Warning: this tip is for advanced users only who know what they are doing. This is only as a last resort for a damaged installed and is not foolproof but it does work.

We are not responsible for any data loss, corruption or hardware damage.

To prevent corruption, archive or copy the following folder:

2K

driveletter:winntsystem32config

XP

driveletter:windowssystem32config

Config folder contains the system registry, software registry, security, SAM and default registries.

(This folder does not contain any user profiles or registries. the per user registry is ntuser.dat which is located in the folder for the user under Documents and Settings or Profiles)

 

If you say restore the SYSTEM file in future due to inability to boot the OS or other catasrophic failure, the system configruation from the file will be restored.

Some system or third party utilities will themselves make backup copies within the config folder or elsewhere so it is wise to see what exists first.