yes, if your registry is hosed, why not try the built-in backup? follow these instructions to backup current registry (why not? can't hurt). the following assumes windows is installed in the folder c:\windows:
boot to dos
path=c:\windows\command
cd c:\windows
attrib -r -h -s system.dat
attrib -r -h -s user.dat
md regbakup
copy system.dat regbakup
copy user.dat regbakup
now, look around for backup copies of your registry. windows makes a set (the registry consists of user.dat and system.dat files) with a special extension (instead of .dat) when you first install windows. i think it is .01 or some such. so you should see a file system.01 and/or user.01 or similar. but use the latest dated promising looking ones. to preserve the system as close to crash date as possible.
find it this way:
dir system.*
dir user.*
do one at a time, look at results, system.whatever should be large file, several megabytes 4MB maybe. user.whatever will be quite a bit smaller. for example, you might find system.nav, system.bak, system.001 etc. if you find both user and system with the same date, try that pair. sometimes programs like anti-virus will backup the registry when they install....
now, copy the backup registry files you've hopefully found into restored versions of the registry. note the word 'copy' (not rename).
here is how:
assuming the files you found and decided to use are system.01 and user.01.
(you should still be in the windows folder: c:
windows)
copy system.01 system.dat
copy user.01 user.dat
reboot your system. you will have lost some programs and configurations maybe but you will be back in business.
when you get the system reconfigured the way you want, backup the registry files per the first step here. good luck.
