This topic is valid for Registry First Aid prior to version 8.0. Registry First Aid since version 8.0 does not support Windows 9x/ME.
You can read before: Create full registry backup
Windows® 98 starts successfully
Run Registry First Aid and select Restore Registry From a Full BackupWindows® 98 does not start
You should start the computer into pure DOS by holding down the Ctrl key as soon as the BIOS information clears the screen. As soon as the menu appears, press the Space Bar (or any other key) once. This will keep the menu active and allow you the time to read over the selections available. Choose Command Prompt Only from the menu. You will then be in Pure DOS.
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If you are having trouble booting your computer, you can use a Windows® 98 boot floppy disk. It can be created from the . Of course, this should be done before any problems can appear. Insert the disk into the floppy drive and reboot the computer.
Under Windows 98 Registry First Aid stores registry backups in the Backups subfolder of installed RFA folder, for example, "C:\Program Files\RFA\Backups".
Navigate to that folder, open subfolder named as the date of backup creation and copy files "system.dat" and "user.dat" to "C:\Windows". There is a batch command file named "restore.bat" to help you replace the files.
To restore you may type the following commands in Pure DOS:
C:\>cd "C:\Program Files\RFA\Backups"C:\Program Files\RFA\Backups>dirsee a list similar to:
C:\Program Files\RFA\Backups>cd 2008_1~1C:\Program Files\RFA\Backups>restore.batAfter your computer successfully loaded you may delete previous registry files that were renamed to system.old and user.old under the Windows folder.
Another method is to use system backup files usually created on system start.
Boot computer into pure DOS using one of the methods described above, or if you are in Windows® you can go to Start/Shut Down... and select Restart in MS-DOS mode. The computer will restart in pure DOS (not a DOS box in Windows® - very important distinction).
Once you've restarted the computer in MS-DOS mode, type SCANREG.EXE /RESTORE command. This utility will ask you what backup file you want to restore. You will see a list of backups like the following:
| 04/02/02 | rb004.cab | Not Started | RFA_backup |
| 04/02/02 | rb003.cab | Not Started | |
| 04/02/02 | rb002.cab | Not Started | RFA_backup |
| 04/02/02 | rb001.cab | Started |
Using the arrow keys, select the CAB (the CABs you will see are archived copies of the Registry) you want. The CAB files are listed by date with the most recent copy at the top. The most recent CAB created at the system startup (it has the "Started" label). Once you've restored the Registry, use the arrow keys to highlight Exit and then reboot. You should now be able to boot back into Windows® 98 normally, just as before you edited the Registry or had a problem.
Warning! Make sure that your backups are current. If you restore an old backup it could be fatal if you've made major changes to the operating system or hardware since the backups were created.