Vista registry restore

A

anthocology

New Member
I wanted to test out Windows 7, so I made a backup of all my programs and documents. I used Automatic Backup, included with Vista. After backing up everything on my computer, I installed Windows 7 (upgraded) 32bit. When I decided it was time to go back to Vista, I did a System Recovery (hp). Upon restoring all of my data, I came upon the following problem:

All of my program files are still intact, however I failed to make a backup of my Registry before upgrading to Windows 7!

Now, my problem is, I have all these programs "installed" but no way to access them, as they are not registered. For example, I just installed Firefox to see if it would work (even though Firefox still shows files in C:\WINDOWS\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox), and all the plugins from my previous Firefox installation are still there, but are not registered, so when I open Firefox, I get this message:

"Firefox could not install this item because of a failure in Chrome Registration. Please contact the author about this problem."

I get this dialogue about 6 or 7 times before Firefox will start, and when it starts, it tells me to restart Firefox.

Question of the Day:
Does the Automatic Backup in Vista perform some sort of backup of my registry?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 

My Computer

System One

Apparently, Vista does not back up your registry..... Seems like it should.

Anyways, if you don't have a lot of programs, you could just reinstall them... It's a bit of work, but it would fix it.

~Lordbob
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5QC
    Memory
    2x2GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia GeForce 9500GT 1Gb
    Sound Card
    Mobo
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 206bw
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SP2514N ATA 250Gb 7200RPM
    Samsung [Model] 1Tb 7200RPM SATA2
    PSU
    Cooler Master Real Power Pro 750W
    Keyboard
    Razer Tarantula
    Mouse
    Razer Lachesis
    Internet Speed
    not fast enough
Well. Like I said, I reinstalled Firefox, but since Vista backed up my Program Files folder, all the add-ons, etc., are still there, and they "think" they're installed, but in reality they're not. Same for other programs? I hope not. Should I just delete the folders of the programs I need to reinstall?
 

My Computer

System One

I have never trusted any backup program made by MS. They certainly are capable, but they just don't do it. I always export a full copy of the reg before making any kind of major changes. It's huge, about 350mb, but worth it.

If the new change does not work out, or even if you crash and burn, you can boot to safemode and import that reg file.

Personally, I think it's better than system restore, IMHO.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Asus G50Vt plus two XP shop machines used for trouble-shooting client problems
Try doing that from safe mode.

~Lordbob
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5QC
    Memory
    2x2GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia GeForce 9500GT 1Gb
    Sound Card
    Mobo
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 206bw
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SP2514N ATA 250Gb 7200RPM
    Samsung [Model] 1Tb 7200RPM SATA2
    PSU
    Cooler Master Real Power Pro 750W
    Keyboard
    Razer Tarantula
    Mouse
    Razer Lachesis
    Internet Speed
    not fast enough
robertpri said:
lordbob75 said:
Try doing that from safe mode.

~Lordbob
Click to expand...

Vista will not let you import reg in safemode?
I did not know that.
Win9X and XP will. I have not tried vista.
Click to expand...

Whoops I knew that would happen... :sarc:
No I meant deleting parts of the registry or sys files. The post above yours by the OP.

~Lordbob
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5QC
    Memory
    2x2GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia GeForce 9500GT 1Gb
    Sound Card
    Mobo
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 206bw
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SP2514N ATA 250Gb 7200RPM
    Samsung [Model] 1Tb 7200RPM SATA2
    PSU
    Cooler Master Real Power Pro 750W
    Keyboard
    Razer Tarantula
    Mouse
    Razer Lachesis
    Internet Speed
    not fast enough
Well. Vista does not backup your registry, and the programs you install also do not keep a copy of of their own registry entries either!

BUT

if you do have backup copies of your C:\Program Files folder (aka all your programs), and no registry for them, they WILL NOT work properly if you just install new copies of them! you MUST delete the old program folders BEFORE you install the new program!!!
 

My Computer

System One

Some programs will back up your registry, such as Genie Backup Manager.

~Lordbob
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5QC
    Memory
    2x2GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia GeForce 9500GT 1Gb
    Sound Card
    Mobo
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 206bw
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SP2514N ATA 250Gb 7200RPM
    Samsung [Model] 1Tb 7200RPM SATA2
    PSU
    Cooler Master Real Power Pro 750W
    Keyboard
    Razer Tarantula
    Mouse
    Razer Lachesis
    Internet Speed
    not fast enough
lordbob75 said:
Some programs will back up your registry, such as Genie Backup Manager.

~Lordbob
Click to expand...

Thank you.

I have decided to go with Casper, which makes a real time, file by file copy, and totally bootable to another hard drive.

I did this with XP pro, dual boot, and once a week I would boot to the second drive, just to make certain it worked.

It never failed.

Worse case: yank out the bad/crashed drive and connect the full copy.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Asus G50Vt plus two XP shop machines used for trouble-shooting client problems
Nice. Is that a free app? I may have to try it. I have not had very good experiences with backup software. Trying to back up to a networked drive sucks!

~Lordbob
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5QC
    Memory
    2x2GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia GeForce 9500GT 1Gb
    Sound Card
    Mobo
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 206bw
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SP2514N ATA 250Gb 7200RPM
    Samsung [Model] 1Tb 7200RPM SATA2
    PSU
    Cooler Master Real Power Pro 750W
    Keyboard
    Razer Tarantula
    Mouse
    Razer Lachesis
    Internet Speed
    not fast enough
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