Disaster!! How to recover registry in Win2k

[mixxer]

I have a machine here with corrupted registry in Win2k. It will not boot... I get a blue screen saying something along the lines of "Can't read system32\software registry is corrupt" ...

Does Win2k automatically save backups of the registry like Win98? In win98 you can just copy the 2 older registry files users.dat and system.dat back into the win98 folder where they store the registry (can't rememb the exact directory).

If I reinstall Win2k it says it will delete the \documents and settings\ folder and also the \winnt\ folder and then do a fresh install. This is different than Win98 where it just copies on top again. I don't want to do this because it'll delete a ton of stuff...

Let me know your suggestions..

 

[mixxer]

BTW the error msg is this:
STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE
or its log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not writeable

 

[StuckMojo]

[edit] you might consider just copying C:\WINNT\repair\software as that is the hive that is messed up [/edit]

during boot you can hit f8 (i think) to get startup options. choose the recovery console, then copy your registry from C:\WINNT\repair (if there is one there, that's where it gets backed up to) to C:\WINNT\system32\config

if you dont have one there you're kinda screwed

BTW you can install overtop like in 98 and keep your settings by choosing a repair or upgrade instead of a clean install. however, this wont help you since it is your software hive that is shot. when you upgrade/repair and save settings, its the system hive that gets replaced and the software hive is left (thus saving your programs and settings).

after you fix this or reinstall, make sure you go into accessories | system tools | backup and make an ERD and choose "backup system files". this will put a copy of the registry in C:\WINNT\repair