Restore Windows registry

Fix Your Computer, Tips and Tricks

TechnologyTips Note: This tip is for either Windows 95 or 98.

Here’s how to restore your registry with a backup copy that exists on your hard drive.

If you are running Windows 98:

  1. Restart the computer.
  2. When the message Starting Windows … appears, hit the F8 key.
  3. Choose Command Prompt Only from the Startup menu.
  4. Change to your Windows directory by typing: CD WINDOWS
  5. Type the following commands to reveal the registry files:
    attrib -h -r -s system.da?
    attrib -h -r -s user.da?
  6. Create a backup copy of the existing registry with these commands:
    copy system.dat system.bak
    copy user.dat user.bak
  7. Copy the Windows backup to the registry:
    copy system.da0 system.dat
    copy user.da0 user.dat
  8. Restart the computer.

If you are running Windows 98, use the “ScanReg” utility instead:

  1. Restart the computer.
  2. Hold down the Ctrl key after the memory count until the Startup menu appears.
  3. Choose Command Prompt Only.
  4. Type “SCANREG” and hit Enter.
  5. Restart the computer.