>From: JC Simonetti <simonetti AT echo DOT fr>
>
>Have you tried to backup an entire registry and restore it with the regedit 
method?
>Because I think of a problem: the registry is composed of data but these data 
also have access rights. "regedit" does not display them (whereas "regedt32" 
does). 

I am currently logged into my WinXP box (2.5GHz P4) as a member of the 
Administrators group.
>From CygWin:
$ cd d:
$ cd temp
$ regedit /e bak1.reg
<Wait about a minute or two.  The call returns immediately, but regedit 
contiunes to run in the background.  When regedit's done, the file is ~45Meg>
$ regedt32 /e bak2.reg
<Wait about a minute or two.  The call returns immediately, but regedt32 
contiunes to run in the background.  When it's done, the file is ~45Meg -same 
size as bak1.reg>
$ diff bak1.reg bak2.reg

diff generates no output.

>Just a last remark. When you want to restore registry, you must have a valid 
registry, whatever solution you choose (regedit, regedt32, regrest...). So if 
your computer crashes completely you have to reinstall a basic Windows before 
restoring anything else.

Not true.  The whole point of the `/c' flag on regedit is that it CREATES a 
NEW, 
VALID registry, containing ONLY the keys found in your source file.

>From comments found via Google, (no, I have not tried it myself) if needs be, 
you can boot to a floppy or cdrom and run `regedit /c ...' and then be able to 
boot the system normally. (assuming your only problem was a corrupt / deleted 
registry) 

I have a few machines sitting in my boneyard at home.  I'll see if I can get 
the 
time tonight to: grab one, install a random Windows version, back up the 
registry to a cdrom, delete several key registry files, verify that the system 
no longer boots, boot to a floppy, and restore the registry via `regedit /c'