stupid me... help me boot into previous registry??

i inherited a new used computer... running really fast as i pared down
the previous owners huge pile of installed software... but i did a
stupid thing... i used regedit to change the name of the previous
registered owner to me... now mr gates wants me to reinstall... but i no
longer have the product codes... or win95b install disks...

how can i stop the boot process and boot into a previous registry?


--
Nostalgia... just isn't what it used to be....
* TagZilla 0.066-bw2
* http://tagzilla.mozdev.org

Nathan Bean wrote:
i inherited a new used computer... running really fast as i pared down
the previous owners huge pile of installed software... but i did a
stupid thing... i used regedit to change the name of the previous
registered owner to me... now mr gates wants me to reinstall... but i no
longer have the product codes... or win95b install disks...

how can i stop the boot process and boot into a previous registry?


i hope you'll pardon my win95 request... none of the win95 groups seem
to be viable anymore...
--
"When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard,"
I am always tempted to ask, "Compared to what?"


* TagZilla 0.066-bw2
* http://tagzilla.mozdev.org

I don't see why changing the RegisteredOwner should cause the system
to want to be reinstalled. Did you do something else?

You can't boot to a previous Registry if you didn't save the Registry
beforehand (System.dat and User.dat)
If not, do a search in either C:\System.1st or C:\Windows\System.dat
for "ProductId"
e.g. C:\Windows\Command\Find /I "ProductId" C:\Windows\System.dat

....Alan
--
Alan Edwards, MS MVP Windows - Internet Explorer
http://dts-l.org/index.htm



On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:15:09 GMT, in microsoft.public.win98.setup,
Nathan Bean wrote:

i inherited a new used computer... running really fast as i pared down
the previous owners huge pile of installed software... but i did a
stupid thing... i used regedit to change the name of the previous
registered owner to me... now mr gates wants me to reinstall... but i no
longer have the product codes... or win95b install disks...

how can i stop the boot process and boot into a previous registry?

On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:15:09 GMT, Nathan Bean
wrote:

i inherited a new used computer... running really fast as i pared down
the previous owners huge pile of installed software... but i did a
stupid thing... i used regedit to change the name of the previous
registered owner to me... now mr gates wants me to reinstall... but i no
longer have the product codes... or win95b install disks...

how can i stop the boot process and boot into a previous registry?

Try booting to DOS and enter Scanreg /restore. Choose a registry
backup from before you made the change. Use CTRL+ALT+DEL to reboot.

If no help post back.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

Bill Watt wrote:

On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:15:09 GMT, Nathan Bean
wrote:


i inherited a new used computer... running really fast as i pared down
the previous owners huge pile of installed software... but i did a
stupid thing... i used regedit to change the name of the previous
registered owner to me... now mr gates wants me to reinstall... but i no
longer have the product codes... or win95b install disks...

how can i stop the boot process and boot into a previous registry?


Try booting to DOS and enter Scanreg /restore. Choose a registry
backup from before you made the change. Use CTRL+ALT+DEL to reboot.

If no help post back.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

I don't think that the Scanreg utility was part of Windows 95, it was
introduced with Windows 98. IIRC to restore the registry with Windows
95 you have to copy the system and user .da0 files over to the .dat ones.

John

On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:03:11 -0300, John John
wrote:

Bill Watt wrote:

On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:15:09 GMT, Nathan Bean
wrote:


i inherited a new used computer... running really fast as i pared down
the previous owners huge pile of installed software... but i did a
stupid thing... i used regedit to change the name of the previous
registered owner to me... now mr gates wants me to reinstall... but i no
longer have the product codes... or win95b install disks...

how can i stop the boot process and boot into a previous registry?


Try booting to DOS and enter Scanreg /restore. Choose a registry
backup from before you made the change. Use CTRL+ALT+DEL to reboot.

If no help post back.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

I don't think that the Scanreg utility was part of Windows 95, it was
introduced with Windows 98. IIRC to restore the registry with Windows
95 you have to copy the system and user .da0 files over to the .dat ones.

John

You're right, I missed the 95 OS. :-(
The da0 file is a backup.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

Bill Watt wrote:
On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:03:11 -0300, John John
wrote:

Bill Watt wrote:

On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:15:09 GMT, Nathan Bean
wrote:


i inherited a new used computer... running really fast as i pared
down the previous owners huge pile of installed software... but i
did a stupid thing... i used regedit to change the name of the
previous registered owner to me... now mr gates wants me to
reinstall... but i no longer have the product codes... or win95b
install disks...

how can i stop the boot process and boot into a previous registry?


Try booting to DOS and enter Scanreg /restore. Choose a registry
backup from before you made the change. Use CTRL+ALT+DEL to reboot.

If no help post back.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

I don't think that the Scanreg utility was part of Windows 95, it was
introduced with Windows 98. IIRC to restore the registry with
Windows 95 you have to copy the system and user .da0 files over to
the .dat ones.

John

You're right, I missed the 95 OS. :-(
The da0 file is a backup.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

To answer the OP's question about how to stop the boot process, at least
that is (IMO) slightly easier in '95 than '98: watch the screen like a hawk,
and when "STARTING WINDOWS 95" appears, immediately press - and I've
forgotten what; I think it is F5 or F8. This will then - again, I can't
remember which - either give you a command prompt, or give you a boot menu
from which one of the options is command prompt. (Or "command line only" or
something like that - usually option 5.)

Once you've got to the command prompt, you can indeed rename the .da# files,
after you've removed or renamed the damaged ones. (I'd say just rename them,
in case someone figures out a way to restore them; going back to .da0 will
rescue your machine, but back to how it was just after OS install, which is
a long time ago!)

As for not having the discs, you might well find that the relevant files
have been copied to your HD somewhere, such as \WIN95 or
\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS - you'l know them if you find them because there will
be a lot of .CAB files, a SETUP.EXE, and a few others.

(This all assumes you're familiar with command line operations, such as cd,
ren, and so on.)
--
J. P. Gilliver | Tel.: 01634 203298

Essex home for sale, c. £70k: see http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/home/

J. P. Gilliver wrote:

Bill Watt wrote:

On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:03:11 -0300, John John
wrote:


Bill Watt wrote:


On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:15:09 GMT, Nathan Bean
wrote:



i inherited a new used computer... running really fast as i pared
down the previous owners huge pile of installed software... but i
did a stupid thing... i used regedit to change the name of the
previous registered owner to me... now mr gates wants me to
reinstall... but i no longer have the product codes... or win95b
install disks...

how can i stop the boot process and boot into a previous registry?


Try booting to DOS and enter Scanreg /restore. Choose a registry
backup from before you made the change. Use CTRL+ALT+DEL to reboot.

If no help post back.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

I don't think that the Scanreg utility was part of Windows 95, it was
introduced with Windows 98. IIRC to restore the registry with
Windows 95 you have to copy the system and user .da0 files over to
the .dat ones.

John

You're right, I missed the 95 OS. :-(
The da0 file is a backup.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/


To answer the OP's question about how to stop the boot process, at least
that is (IMO) slightly easier in '95 than '98: watch the screen like a hawk,
and when "STARTING WINDOWS 95" appears, immediately press - and I've
forgotten what; I think it is F5 or F8.

It's F8.


This will then - again, I can't
remember which - either give you a command prompt, or give you a boot menu
from which one of the options is command prompt. (Or "command line only" or
something like that - usually option 5.)

Once you've got to the command prompt, you can indeed rename the .da# files,
after you've removed or renamed the damaged ones. (I'd say just rename them,
in case someone figures out a way to restore them; going back to .da0 will
rescue your machine, but back to how it was just after OS install, which is
a long time ago!)

I don't think that is right. The .DA0 files are recreated after every
sucessful boot, sort of like the "Last Known Good" on NT systems. The
files are only as old as when Windows 95 was last sucessfully started.
You are probably thinking of the .1ST file, that one could be used if
all else failed, but as you said it might be rather old to do any real
good, it is a copy of the registry when Windows 95 was first installed.


As for not having the discs, you might well find that the relevant files
have been copied to your HD somewhere, such as \WIN95 or
\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS - you'l know them if you find them because there will
be a lot of .CAB files, a SETUP.EXE, and a few others.

(This all assumes you're familiar with command line operations, such as cd,
ren, and so on.)


The OP will find what he need in these search results:

http://search.microsoft.com/results....US&PageType=99

John

Bill Watt wrote:
On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:15:09 GMT, Nathan Bean
wrote:

i inherited a new used computer... running really fast as i pared down
the previous owners huge pile of installed software... but i did a
stupid thing... i used regedit to change the name of the previous
registered owner to me... now mr gates wants me to reinstall... but i no
longer have the product codes... or win95b install disks...

how can i stop the boot process and boot into a previous registry?

Try booting to DOS and enter Scanreg /restore. Choose a registry
backup from before you made the change. Use CTRL+ALT+DEL to reboot.

If no help post back.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

i did that... thanks... took a while to track down the previously stored
registry file...

seriously was strange... all i did was change the registered owner...

just as well win 95 was giving me trouble with networking, so i used
98Lite to install a small footprint win98se... working great on this old
200mhz system...

John John wrote:
J. P. Gilliver wrote:

Bill Watt wrote:

On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:03:11 -0300, John John
wrote:


Bill Watt wrote:


On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:15:09 GMT, Nathan Bean
wrote:



i inherited a new used computer... running really fast as i pared
down the previous owners huge pile of installed software... but i
did a stupid thing... i used regedit to change the name of the
previous registered owner to me... now mr gates wants me to
reinstall... but i no longer have the product codes... or win95b
install disks...

how can i stop the boot process and boot into a previous registry?


Try booting to DOS and enter Scanreg /restore. Choose a registry
backup from before you made the change. Use CTRL+ALT+DEL to reboot.

If no help post back.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

I don't think that the Scanreg utility was part of Windows 95, it was
introduced with Windows 98. IIRC to restore the registry with
Windows 95 you have to copy the system and user .da0 files over to
the .dat ones.

John

You're right, I missed the 95 OS. :-(
The da0 file is a backup.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/


To answer the OP's question about how to stop the boot process, at
least that is (IMO) slightly easier in '95 than '98: watch the screen
like a hawk, and when "STARTING WINDOWS 95" appears, immediately press
- and I've forgotten what; I think it is F5 or F8.

It's F8.


This will then - again, I can't
remember which - either give you a command prompt, or give you a boot
menu from which one of the options is command prompt. (Or "command
line only" or something like that - usually option 5.)

Once you've got to the command prompt, you can indeed rename the .da#
files, after you've removed or renamed the damaged ones. (I'd say just
rename them, in case someone figures out a way to restore them; going
back to .da0 will rescue your machine, but back to how it was just
after OS install, which is a long time ago!)

I don't think that is right. The .DA0 files are recreated after every
sucessful boot, sort of like the "Last Known Good" on NT systems. The
files are only as old as when Windows 95 was last sucessfully started.
You are probably thinking of the .1ST file, that one could be used if
all else failed, but as you said it might be rather old to do any real
good, it is a copy of the registry when Windows 95 was first installed.


As for not having the discs, you might well find that the relevant
files have been copied to your HD somewhere, such as \WIN95 or
\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS - you'l know them if you find them because there
will be a lot of .CAB files, a SETUP.EXE, and a few others.

(This all assumes you're familiar with command line operations, such
as cd, ren, and so on.)


The OP will find what he need in these search results:

http://search.microsoft.com/results....US&PageType=99


John

thanks for all the great help guys... and sorry for not getting back to
you sooner... had some stomach virus sweeping thru the house...

this computer had had some serious re-engineering before i inherited
it... there were some win98 some win95a some win95b... no win95c
thankfully...

but have it all sorted obviously...

this computer works... but i'm looking for a newer motherboard that will
still handle win98... any thoughts?