John O Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 (edited) It has been brought to my attention that my wife and I need to do this on our Dell PC. I went to the Microsoft site and looked at their instructions. It says to use the 'backup utility.' I am not sure about where this is and I have a natural hesitancy to mess with the registry as the last time I did, the PC ended up in the repair shop. I am not all that computer skilled.Is there a safe and fairly simple way to do this?Thanks, John Edited February 11, 2007 by John O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmX.Memnoch Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 Use the Backup utility in System Tools under Accessories (or enter ntbackup.exe in a Run prompt). To make a proper backup of the registry you want to do a System State Backup. This will backup the registry and your SAM (user account) database, as well as a few other items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jftuga Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 What is the difference between doing this and creating a system restore point?-John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John O Posted February 11, 2007 Author Share Posted February 11, 2007 Backup utility does not appear in tools. I tried to run ntbackup.exe and it is not there either. Am I supposed to download this from a disc that came with the computer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmX.Memnoch Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 What is the difference between doing this and creating a system restore point?-JohnA system restore point does sort of the same thing, but on a larger scale. Creating a restore point copies a lot more than a system state backup does. It also allows you to recover from less serious errors. A system state backup will allow you to recover your registry should it become corrupted, or should parts of it get deleted that shouldn't have been deleted.Also, the NTBackup utility will still work when System Restore has been disabled. Backup utility does not appear in tools. I tried to run ntbackup.exe and it is not there either. Am I supposed to download this from a disc that came with the computer?Are you running XP Home? If so I believe you can install NTBackup from the CD. See the following knowledge base article for instructions:http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=302894 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John O Posted February 11, 2007 Author Share Posted February 11, 2007 "Double-click the Ntbackup.msi file in the following location on the Windows XP Home Edition CD-ROM to start a wizard that installs Backup:CD-ROM Drive:\VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP "Are they referring to the Dell supplied "Operating System Reinstallation Windows XP Home Edition CD Rom"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmX.Memnoch Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 (edited) Yes, it should be on there.To further my answer to jftuga, the following is from the NTBackup Help regarding System State Backups:System State dataYou can back up and restore the following system components using Backup:Registry COM+ Class Registration database Boot files, including the system files Certificate Services database Active Directory directory service SYSVOL directory Cluster service information IIS Metadirectory System files that are under Windows File ProtectionBackup refers to these system components as the System State data. The exact system components that make up your computer's System State data depend on the computer's operating system and configuration. Windows XP ProfessionalThe System State data comprises only the registry, COM+ Class Registration database, files under Windows File Protection, and boot files.Windows 2000 Server familyThe System State data comprises the registry, COM+ Class Registration database, files under Windows File Protection, and system boot files. Depending on the configuration of the server, other data may be included in the System State data. For example, if the server is a certificate server, the System State will also contain the Certificate Services database. If the server is a domain controller, Active Directory and the SYSVOL directory are also contained in the System State data.In addition, if you are running the domain name service (DNS) on a domain controller, the Active Directory portion of the System State data also contains the DS-integrated DNS zone data. The non-DS integrated DNS zone data, which are saved, by default, as *.dns files in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DNS directory, are part of the boot volume and will be included when you run a complete backup of your computer.If the server is running the Cluster service, then the System State data will also include any resource registry checkpoints and the quorum resource recovery log, which contains the most recent cluster database information.Backing up System State dataWhen you choose to back up or restore the System State data, all of the System State data that is relevant to your computer is backed up or restored; you cannot choose to back up or restore individual components of the System State data. This is due to dependencies among the System State components. However, you can restore the System State data to an alternate location. If you do this, only the registry files, SYSVOL directory files, Cluster database information files, and system boot files are restored to the alternate location. The Active Directory directory services database, Certificate Services database, and COM+ Class Registration database are not restored if you designate an alternate location when you restore the System State data.NotesYou must have certain permissions or user rights to back up files and folders. In order to restore the System State data on a domain controller, you must first start your computer in directory services restore mode. This will allow you to restore the SYSVOL directory and the Active Directory. You must be an administrator to back up and restore System State data. You can only back up and restore the System State data on a local computer. You cannot back up and restore the System State data on a remote computer. Although you cannot change which components of the System State are backed up, you can back up all of the protected system files with the System State data by setting advanced backup options. For more information, click Related Topics. Edited February 11, 2007 by nmX.Memnoch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitroshift Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 It's more simple to just export the registry. To do so, open up regedit, right-click on My Computer and select "Export". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmX.Memnoch Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 That will not get everything. There are keys in the registry that even the built-in Administrator account doesn't have access to. The only way to do it properly is with a System State Backup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allen2 Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 You could also boot with a cd or floppy disk with ntfs read access and save %windir%\system32\config folder. It contains the registry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jftuga Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 nmX.Memnoch,Thanks for the info!-John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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