Lots of info here, you may want to print it out. If you can get to a C:\
prompt, you should be able to do either of the following. Try the 'scanreg
/restore' procedure first, if that doesn't provide relief, you can put your
old reg info back and try the System Restore from the command prompt.
Heirloom, old and geeez.....big post





How to back up the Windows registry

Situation:
You need to create a backup of the Windows registry before editing it. If
the changes you make to the registry do not produce the desired result, then
you can restore the registry from the backup.

Solution:
Windows 95/98/Me
If you are running Windows 95/98/Me, create a backup copy of the registry
and save it to the Windows desktop.

To back up the registry:

1. Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog box appears.
2. Type regedit and click OK. The Registry Editor opens.
3. Click the Registry menu and click Export Registry File.
4. Verify the following items in the Export Registry File dialog box:
Save in: Desktop
File name: Registry Backup
Save as type: Registration Files
Export range: All
5. Click Save.
6. Exit the Registry Editor.
7. Verify that an icon labeled "Registry Backup.reg" is on the desktop.


CAUTION: Do not double-click the Registry Backup.reg file on the desktop
unless you intend to undo the changes you are making to the registry.

NOTE: This method for Windows 95/98/Me will not work for Windows
NT/2000. Windows NT/2000 has additional security protection that prevents
this backup from being restored. To back up the Windows NT/2000 registry,
see the Windows NT or Windows 2000 sections in the later part of this
document.

After making changes to the registry
After you make the changes you want to the registry, immediately verify
that the results are what you expected.

If the results are what you want, delete the Registry Backup.reg file
after you are finished troubleshooting the initial problem. Do not allow the
file to remain on the desktop beyond the test period. Since double-clicking
a .reg file imports the file's contents into the registry, deleting Registry
Backup.reg prevents you from inadvertently restoring this version of the
registry in the future when it may be out of date.

If the results were not what you expected, and you want to restore the
registry to its previous state, double-click the Registry Backup.reg file.

Windows 98/Me - Scanreg

Windows 98 provides an additional means of backing up the registry not
available in either Windows 95 or Windows NT. This involves running the
Scanreg command from MS-DOS mode.

To run Scanreg:

1. Click Start and click Shut Down. The shut Down Windows screen appears.
2. Click "Restart in MS-DOS Mode" and click OK. Windows shuts down and
restarts to a DOS prompt. 3. At
the DOS prompt, type the following command and press Enter:
scanreg /backup

Scanreg will back up your registry and then return a DOS prompt.


After you make the changes you want to the registry, immediately verify
that the results are what you expected. If the results are not what you
expected, you can use Scanreg to restore the previous
registry.

To restore a backup copy of the registry with Scanreg:

1. Click Start and click Shut Down. The Shut Down Windows screen
appears.
2. Click "Restart in MS-DOS Mode" and click OK. Windows shuts down and
restarts to a DOS prompt.
3. At the DOS prompt, type the following command and press Enter:
scanreg /restore

Scanreg will check your registry and display the list of available
backups.

4. Select the backup at the top of your list. This is the backup you
made earlier.
5. Press R to restore the backup.
6. When the restoration is complete, type win and press Enter to start
Windows.

Compressing the Registry

Start, Run, type: Scanreg /opt /fix Note: In Win98 this must be
done from the DOS Prompt.

Command Line Switches for Scanreg

Syntax

MS-DOS Version:

Scanreg.exe [/backup] [/restore] ["/comment=text"] [/fix]
Scanreg.exe [/backup] [/restore] ["/comment=text"] [/opt] [/fix]

Windows Version:

Scanregw.exe [/backup] ["/comment=text"] [/autoscan] [/scanonly]
[filename]

Description of Switches

The following table lists each command-line switch and its description:

Switch Description
----------------------------------------------------------------------
/backup Backs up the registry and related files without
displaying any prompts.

/restore Displays a list of available backup files, sorted
by the date and time the backup was created.

"/comment=text" Enables you to add a descriptive comment to the
registry backup.

/fix Repairs any damaged portions of the registry, and
optimizes it by rebuilding it without unused
space.

/autoscan Automatically scans the registry and backs it up
without displaying any prompts if there is no
backup for that date.

/scanonly Scans the registry and displays a message if any
errors are found. This switch does not back up the
registry.

filename Scans the registry file specified and displays a
message indicating whether or not any errors were
found. This switch does not back up the registry.

/opt The /opt command-line switch causes the
Registry Checker tool to optimize the
registry by removing unused space.


The Registry Scan Results dialog box appears only when you use the
Scanregw.exe command without any
command-line switches. If no registry errors are found when you run
Scanregw.exe, you are prompted to create
a backup copy of your current registry.

The "/comment=text" switch can be used by itself or with the /backup
switch. For example, you can type
either of the following lines at a command prompt:

scanreg.exe "/comment=this is a registry backup"

scanreg.exe /backup "/comment=this is a registry backup"

The first command line starts the Registry Checker tool graphical user
interface (GUI) and prompts you to create a registry backup. The second
command line creates a backup copy of your registry and adds your comment
without starting the Registry Checker tool GUI.

For additional information about the Registry Checker tool, please see
the following articles in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

Q183887 Description of the Windows Registry Checker Tool
(Scanreg.exe)

Q183603 How to Customize Registry Checker Tool Settings

Q201655 Error Message: You Have Restored a Good Registry

For additional information about how to use the Registry Checker tool,
click Start, click Help, click the Index tab, type registry, and then
double-click the "Registry Checker" topic.

================================================== =================

Windows Millennium Edition (Me) includes the System Restore tool, however,
you cannot start the System Restore tool from a command
prompt. Because of this, it may be useful to start the System Restore
tool when you are unable to start your Windows Me-based
computer normally or in Safe mode. This article describes how to start
the System Restore tool when you are unable to start your
Windows Me-based computer normally or in Safe mode.

MS KB Q279736 - "How to Start the System Restore Tool
From a Command Prompt"
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];279736


MORE INFORMATION

To start the System Restore tool when you are unable to start your
Windows Me-based computer normally or in Safe mode, you can
temporarily change the Windows shell from Explorer.exe to Progman.exe:

Start your computer by using the Windows Me Startup disk.

At the Startup menu, choose Minimum Boot .

At the command prompt, type edit c:\windows\system.ini , and then
press ENTER.

Edit the shell= line so that it looks like this:

shell=progman.exe

Press ALT+F, and then press S to save the changes to the System.ini
file.

Press ALT+F, and then press X.

Remove your Windows Me Startup disk, and then restart your computer.
When your computer restarts, Program Manager should
start. If Program Manager does not start, repeat steps 1-7, being
careful to follow these steps exactly, and then continue to the
next step.

On the File menu, click Run , type msconfig in the Command Line box,
and then press ENTER.

Click Launch System Restore to begin restoring your computer to a
previous, functional state.

NOTE : After you configure your computer to start Program Manager, you
can start the System Restore tool by typing
c:\windows\system\restore\rstrui.exe at a command prompt, and then
pressing ENTER.

For additional information about the System Restore tool, click the
article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge
Base:

Q267951 Description of the System Restore Utility in Windows Me
================================================== ===================

"Paul" wrote in message
...
My system will not start. I power it on and all I get is what looks like
a
DOS screen and a blinking curser. I can boot from floppy and get to the C
drive. I'm not sure what I can do, Im hope I don't have to re-system my
machine.

Thank you