A. Windows XP registry backup and restore
The registry stores various parameters, which directly control the startup of Windows, the loading of hardware drivers, and the running parameters of some Windows applications. If the registry is damaged, in mild cases, the Windows system will not run properly, and in severe cases, it may cause the entire system to be paralyzed. Therefore, it is very necessary for Windows users to master the backup and restore skills of the registry.
(1) Back up the entire registry
Click the "Start → Run" menu item, enter "Regedit" in the "Run" dialog box, click the "OK" button and open the Registration Editor. If you want to back up the entire registry, you need to select the registry root directory (i.e., "My Computer" node), then right-click, select the "Export" command, open the "Export Registry File" dialog box, enter the name of the registry file and the saved path in the "File Name" box, and click the "Save" button. The registry backup file extension is REG.
(2) Registry restoration
If you can successfully enter the Windows graphical interface, you can double-click the REG file backed up above to restore the registry to the status at the time of backup.
When you cannot enter the Windows graphical interface, you can insert the Windows XP installation CD into the optical drive, boot from the CD, and after entering the installation program, press the R key to start the recovery console. Follow the screen prompts, log in to Windows XP, and copy the five files system, sam, software, security, and default in the REPAIR directory in the system directory to the \System32\Config directory. The registry will be restored to the initial state when the system was just installed. After restarting to enter the Windows XP system, import the previously backed up registry files into the system, and the system can restore to the state when the registry was backed up.
B. Hardware driver backup and restore
New hardware drivers may be unstable after installation. In addition, when the system is reinstalled, the workload of hardware drivers is also quite high, and backing up the drivers can avoid these unnecessary troubles. For the former case, we can use the system's own driver recovery function to restore the driver. In the latter case, we can only use software to backup, such as the Mydrivers driver wizard.
(1) The system's own driver recovery function
Click the "Start → Control Panel" menu item, double-click the "System" icon in the dialog box that appears, open the "System Properties" dialog box, click the "Hardware" tab, click the "Device Manager" button, and open the "Device Manager" dialog box. In the hardware list in the dialog box, double-click the hardware device to restore the driver, and in the properties dialog box of the device that appears, click the "Driver" tab, and click the "Back to Driver" button to restore the driver to the original driver.
(2) Use Mydrivers driver wizard to backup the driver
Run "Driver Wizard", click the "Backup Driver → Search for Drivers to Backup" menu command in the program window, and select the driver you want to back up in the hardware driver list it listed. After selecting it, set the directory where the driver backup file is saved, and click the "Start Backup" button to perform the backup operation.
Driver restore can be performed after the system is reinstalled, run "Driver Wizard", click the "Restore Driver → Restore from Backup Directory" menu command in the program window, and browse to the location where the driver backup file is saved in the "Browse Directory" dialog box that appears. After clicking the "OK" button, the backup hardware driver list will be displayed in the main window of the program. Select the driver to be installed or restored in the list. Finally, click the "Start Restore" button to restore or install the driver at one time.