Once you install a second copy of Windows XP, your boot menu will list both copies of Windows XP. This can be confusing since the descriptions will be almost identical. There is a solution: the boot menu can be customized. The boot drive's root directory contains a file called boot.ini. This file includes the boot options for each copy of Windows XP that is installed. Edit boot.ini by following these steps: 1. Open the Windows XP Control Panel in Classic view. 2. Open System Properties. 3. Click the Advanced tab. 4. In the Startup and Recovery section, click Settings. The Startup and Recovery window opens. 5. In the System Startup section of the Startup and Recovery window, click the Edit button. This launches Notepad, loading the boot.ini file. 6. Edit boot.ini and save the file once you have completed your edits. 7. Close the Startup and Recovery and System Properties windows. (Closing these windows after saving boot.ini ensures that the correct file attributes for boot.ini are preserved.) When manually editing boot.ini, you need to remove the system, read-only, and hidden attributes by going to a command prompt and typing C:\> attrib C:\boot.ini –r –s –h. Don't forget to restore these attributes after you have completed your editing.

The boot.ini file includes quoted text strings that describe the installation:

type boot.ini [boot loader] timeout=30 default= disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINXP [operating systems] signature Disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINXP="Microsoft Windows XP Server" /fastdetect multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINXPBU="Windows NT Server" multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINXPBU="Windows NT Server" /basevideo /sos

You can modify anything in the quoted strings. I suggest calling your backup installation of Windows XP just that "Windows XP B/U." For example:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINXPBU="Windows XP Server Registry B/U" multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINXPBU="Windows XP Server Registry B/U [VGA mode]" /basevideo /sos

Don't forget to use the Control Panel's System applet to change the default boot to the version of Windows XP that normally will be booted by default. After Windows XP is (re)installed, the latest installation is made the default operating system by the installation (Setup) program.

To copy or to xcopy, That Is the Question

Users of FAT file systems can access the registry with a DOS boot disk, and users of either FAT or NTFS may gain access with a second copy of Windows XP as described earlier. Once a method to access the registry has been established, it is a simple task to completely back up the registry. Typically, I'll use a command window (a "DOS box," or command prompt), because I use NTFS and have a second copy of Windows XP installed. I'll now describe how I back up the registry on my Windows XP server. Using the md (make directory) or mkdir command, I create a new directory called \RegBU on another drive (my system has at least five hard drives):

md D:\RegBu

I then use the xcopy command (or copy) to copy the registry files in C:\Winnt\System32\Config directory to the RegBU directory. The Winnt directory is where my main copy of Windows XP is installed. xcopy C:\Winnt\System32\Config\*.* D:\RegBu\*.* /s

This example saves a backup to a subdirectory on the D: drive. This is a good solution if the system (C:) drive becomes unreadable, because the backup copy will still be accessible on the

other drive. Other alternatives include backing up to a removable (Zip) drive, CD-R/CD-RW drive, or a network drive on a different computer. If things are going well, I may also use WinZip to back up the registry files to a set of diskettes. In my system, the files in my Config directory are just over 16MB in size. Am I typical? No. I only have a few users in my user database, so my registry is smaller than most. WinZip is able to compress the files down to only two or three diskettes, which is a reasonable number. Of course, if I used a Zip or CD-R/CD-RW drive, I could put these files on a single disk, but in my case that might be a waste of space. Once you've copied your registry files to a safe location, simply remove the boot diskette (if used) and reboot the computer. This will give you a copy of the registry that is restorable later using an almost identical technique: boot to DOS and restore the files. Tip What the heck is a safe location? A safe location typically might be another hard drive, a Zip drive, or perhaps even diskettes. Diskettes present a small problem in that the registry files are typically going to be a total of 10 to 20MB in size. Using a utility such as WinZip allows you to write these large files to a number of diskettes while at the same time compressing them, reducing the number of diskettes required to a minimum. (We won't get into the issues of using off-site backup storage!)

What's on My ASR Disk?

The files found on a typical Windows XP ASR disk include the following:

asr.sif Not part of the registry, this file is saved on the ASR disk. A SIF file is a file that contains state information (SIF is an acronym for state information file). The asr.sif file contains information about Windows XP and the computer hardware. asrpnp.sif Not part of the registry, this file is saved on the ASR disk. This SIF file contains information about the computer's Plug and Play hardware. setup.log This file contains information about the initial setup of Windows XP. All of these files are critical when restoring the registry or system using the Setup program's repair function.

Using RegEdit to Back Up the Registry

Using the Windows Registry Editor, you can make an additional copy of the registry and restore it by double-clicking a single icon. The Windows Registry Editor, RegEdit, is included with Windows XP. Note New! RegEdt32 and RegEdit have been "combined" into a single program. Actually, the original RegEdit program was removed from Windows XP, and RegEdt32 has replaced it. (You can start the Registry Editor with either RegEdit or RegEdt32 with the same result.) If you follow the steps outlined shortly, you can create a copy of the system registry that includes everything except the Security and SAM registry keys. When backing up a Windows XP workstation on a network, RegEdit will usually use this technique to save everything needed. There are other methods to back up the security database, though those methods are awkward and somewhat difficult to manage: it is easier to use the techniques described earlier in the tutorial to do a complete registry backup. Note If you are a system administrator and you have Windows 95/98/Me systems, the technique described below will work for these computers as well. Actually, they work better with Windows 95/98/Me than with Windows XP, but we'll keep that our carefully guarded secret. Because the Security and SAM keys are not backed up, this is not a complete backup technique. Rather, this is an interesting technique for backing up the other major parts of the registry one that is very easy and quick to do. To use RegEdit to back up the registry: 1. Run RegEdit. Either go to a command window and type the command RegEdit, or choose Start → Run to open the Run dialog box, type RegEdit in the Open input area, and click the OK button. 2. After RegEdit starts, note that My Computer is highlighted. If My Computer is not highlighted, click it to highlight it. This ensures that the entire registry, not just part of it, is backed up. 3. Select the Registry menu item Export Registry File. 4. RegEdit displays the Export Registry File dialog box. Using the dialog box's toolbar, navigate to the Desktop (or some other location that is convenient for you) and type a name for the file (for example, RegistrySave) and click Save. 5. Exit RegEdit. Notice that the RegEdit version that is supplied with Windows XP writes the registry file out in Unicode format (each character is two bytes long). Editors and utilities that do not understand Unicode character sets will have difficulty working with this file. To convert a Unicode text file to one-byte text format, use the type command, with the output redirected to a new file. For example: type "file in unicode.reg" >"file in text.txt" The new file created will be (within a byte or two) half the size of the original registry file that you saved. This method of saving the registry is easy and almost painless. Using this technique to back up the registry immediately after installation allows you to restore the system to a known state very easily and quickly. To restore the registry with the file created with RegEdit, simply double-click the file you created in step 4 above, and this file will be reloaded as the current registry. Note The saved registry file may be placed anywhere you desire. In some cases, placing a registry restore capability on a user's Desktop is tantamount to courting disaster. Some users will click it just to see what will happen. One solution is to hide the file (that is, set the file's hidden attribute) or save it to an offline or other safe storage location.

Restoring the Registry

To restore the registry, you must consider how the registry was saved. There are four ways to save a registry, each of which differs in just how much of the registry was saved and where the registry was saved:

• You can use a backup program (such as the one included with Windows XP) to copy the registry to a tape or other online or offline location. The backup program will then restore the registry backup to its original location.

• You can copy the registry (as described earlier), creating identical copies of the registry that can then be recopied back to the original registry locations. This requires that you use a second operating system (such as a second copy of Windows XP) to copy the files back.

• The Windows XP Backup program (also) saves the registry to the %SystemRoot%\Repair directory. You can then use the Windows XP Setup program to restore these files.

• You can use RegEdit to save the registry in a text file with an extension of .reg. Windows XP knows that this is a registry file (because the .reg file type is a registered extension) and will reload the file automatically into the registry if the file is doubleclicked in Explorer or from the Desktop. From a command prompt, enter the command start filename.reg, where filename is the name of the registry backup file.

Restoring from Tape

Restoring a tape backup is a simple, though time-consuming, process. When you use a backup and restore program compatible with Windows XP, make sure that you select the option to restore the local registry. You will have to make the decision about restoring other files at this time based upon your circumstances. If you suspect that other system files may be corrupted, or if you are simply not sure of the state of the system, then I would recommend repairing Windows XP (using the Windows XP Setup program), or restoring the entire operating system and the registry at the same time. If you know that the registry is the only damaged component, simply restoring the registry and not other system files may save some time.

Restoring from Other Media Supported by Backup

Restoring backups saved on other media (such as disks, diskettes, Zip drives, CD-R/CD-RW drives, and so forth) is a simple and usually fast process. Use the Windows XP Backup program and select System State from the list of backed up items to restore. System State will contain three items: Boot Files, COM+ Class Registry, and Registry. Note It is not possible to restore only part of the System State data; you must restore it all! Your ASR backup includes other files in addition to the System State (including a full backup of the system drive), and you may restore those files at any time. You will have to make the decision about restoring these other files based on your circumstances. If you suspect that other system files may be corrupted, or if you are simply not sure of the state of the system, then I would recommend repairing Windows XP or restoring the entire operating system and the registry at the same time. If you know that the registry is the only damaged component, simply restoring the System State and not other system files may save a certain amount of time.

When Active Directory is running, it is not possible to restore the System State. This limitation requires that you stop the Active Directory services by doing the following: Reboot Windows XP and during the boot process select the advanced startup option Directory Services Restore Mode. Once the system has completed the boot, restore the System State. After restoring the System State, perform a normal Windows XP reboot. If you're using another backup program, then simply follow the instructions provided with the program. The same general cautions about which files to restore (only the System State or the entire operating system) still apply regardless of which restore program you use. The main difference between most backup and restore programs is the user interface and media compatibility. Never forget that tapes usually must be restored using the same program used to create the tape! Note When restoring, be especially cautious that you do not restore the wrong, or out-of-date, version of the System State. Generally, you want to make sure that you restore the most current working version of the registry for the system.