How to Restore The Windows 9x Registry

When you start Windows 95, you may receive one of the following error messages:

There is not enough memory to load the registry.
Windows has encountered an error accessing the system registry. You should restore the registry now and restart the computer.
If you ignore this error and shut down your system, you may lose data.

Restoring the registry replaces the faulty registry with a known good backup copy. However, this backup copy may not contain all the information recently added to your system.

NOTE: If you click the Restore From Backup And Restart button, you receive the error message again as Windows 95 restarts.

CAUSE

These error messages may occur if the registry is damaged.

RESOLUTION

Using Real-Mode Registry Editor

Use Registry Editor in real mode to export, then import, the registry file. To do so, follow these steps:

Restart the computer. When you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, press the F8 key, then choose "Safe mode command prompt only" from the Startup menu.
Type the following line to export the registry
```
regedit /l:<path1> /e <path2>system.txt
```
where <path1> is the path to the System.dat file and <path2> is the path to the destination file. For example, if Windows 95 is installed in the Windows folder on drive C, type the following line:
```
regedit /l:c:\windows\system.dat /e c:\system.txt
```
Type the following lines, pressing ENTER after each line:
```
cd\windows attrib -s -h -r system.dat
```
Type the following line to rename the current registry file:
```
ren system.dat system.old
```
Type the following line to import the System.dat portion of the registry
```
regedit /l:<path1> /c <path2>system.txt
```
where <path1> is the path to the System.dat file and <path2> is the path containing the file to import. For example, if Windows 95 is installed in the Windows folder on drive C and you want to import the System.txt file from the root folder of drive C, type:
```
regedit /l:c:\windows\system.dat /c c:\system.txt
```
NOTE: If an "Unable to open registry" or "Error accessing the registry" error message is displayed when you attempt to import the System.dat portion of the registry, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base for more information about the error message:

TITLE : Regedit May Not Be Able to Import Registry with Large Keys
Restart Windows 95 normally.

If the error continues to occur, follow these steps:

Restart the computer. When you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, press the F8 key, and then choose "Safe mode command prompt only" from the Startup menu.
Type the following line to export the User.dat portion of the registry
```
regedit /r:<path1> /e <path2>user.txt
```
where <path1> is the path to the User.dat file and <path2> is the path to the destination file. For example, if Windows 95 is installed in the Windows folder on drive C, type the following line:
```
regedit /r:c:\windows\user.dat /e c:\user.txt
```
Type the following lines, pressing ENTER after each line:
```
cd\windows attrib -s -h -r user.dat
```
Type the following line to rename the User.dat file:
```
ren user.dat user.old
```
Type the following line to import the User.dat portion of the registry
```
regedit /r:<path1> /c <path2>user.txt
```
where <path1> is the path to the User.dat file and <path2> is the path containing the file to import. For example, if Windows 95 is installed in the Windows folder on drive C and you want to import the User.txt file from the root folder of drive C, type:
```
regedit /r:c:\windows\user.dat /c c:\user.txt
```
NOTE: If an "Unable to open registry" or "Error accessing the registry" error message is displayed when you attempt to import the User.dat portion of the registry, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

TITLE : Regedit May Not Be Able to Import Registry with Large Keys
Restart Windows 95 normally.

If the error continues to occur after you follow the steps in this section, please see the next section.

Using System.da0

Restore the registry to its state when you last successfully started Windows 95. To do so, follow these steps:

Restart the computer. When you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, press the F8 key, then choose "Safe mode command prompt only" from the Startup menu.
Type the following command to move to the Windows folder
```
cd \<windows>
```
where <windows> is the Windows 95 folder. For example, if Windows 95 is installed in the Windows folder, type the following line:
```
cd \windows
```
Type the following line:
```
attrib -s -h -r system.dat
```
Type the following line:
```
ren system.dat system.bad
```
Restart your computer. Windows 95 uses the System.da0 file when it cannot find the System.dat file. If this file works, Windows 95 renames it to System.dat.

If the error continues to occur after you follow the steps in this section, please see the next section.

Using System.1st

Restore the registry to its state when you first started Windows 95 successfully. To do so, follow these steps:

Restart the computer. When you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, press the F8 key, then choose "Safe mode command prompt only" from the Startup menu.
Type the following command to move to the Windows folder
```
cd \<windows>
```
where <windows> is the Windows 95 folder. For example, if Windows 95 is installed in the Windows folder, type the following line:
```
cd \windows
```
Type the following line:
```
attrib -s -h -r system.dat
```
Type the following line:
```
ren system.dat system.xxx
```
Type the following line:
```
cd \
```
Type the following line:
```
attrib -s -h -r system.1st
```
Type the following line
```
copy system.1st c:\<windows>\system.dat
```
where <windows> is your Windows 95 folder.
Type the following line:
```
attrib +s +h +r system.1st
```
Restart your computer.