There are 5 registry hives , Namely
- SAM – Security accounts manager
- System
- Software
- Default
- Security
These are located in c:\windows\system32\config
When a system state backup is run on the computer, these hives are backed up and stored in c:\windows\repair.
If you made a change to the system or installed a new software , the server may go into a no-boot situation. This procedure is also helpful when your registry is corrupt. You may receive error on these lines:
“Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE or SYSTEM or its log.”
It is important to note that , once you have replaced the hives, your system will be pushed back to the configuration when you took the last backup. If you are not sure when you took the last backup, you must check the date on files in c:\windows\repair .
If you have not performed a backup since you promoted the server to Domain Controller, Do not use this procedure.
It is also possible to only replace one hive at a time , but since the hives are related , I would suggest replacing all in one go.
Steps to Follow
Boot with the Windows CD and go to recovery console
You need to enter the password , this is the first password that was entered when setting up the computer
type the following commands
cd windows
cd system32
cd config
This will take you to the following path
c:\windows\system32\config>
Now we need to rename the existing hives to .old so we can replace them with ones from repair folder
Run the following commands to rename the hives
ren system system.old
ren software software.old
ren sam sam.old
ren default default.old
ren security security.old
Once this is done , Navigate to c:\windows\repair , to do that , run these commands
cd ..
cd ..
cd repair
Once you are at c:\windows\repair>
run these commands to copy hives from repair folder to config folder
copy software c:\windows\system32\config
copy system c:\windows\system32\config
copy sam c:\windows\system32\config
copy default c:\windows\system32\config
copy security c:\windows\system32\config
Reboot the server to normal mode
If this does not work for you and you want to revert the changes, rename the files you copied from repair folder to hivename.old1 and rename the hivename.old in config folder to hivename
Thanks for this, it was a help. The only problem is that the windows has to be on the C drive for it to work. If it is not on the C drive check if you have any USB devices plugged in.
ReplyDeleteHi there, I cannot find the repair folder on my system
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