Spybot SD Registry backup question.

[atriad]

During the installation/configuration of Spybot, I am asked to backup the registry. How is this completed? Where are the backup file(s) placed? What can these backups be used for?


I have a dead machine, that got its registry blown away, and the SPYBOT SD program created a backup minutes before. Id like to know what options are available.

Thanks for any information you can provide!

Paul

[md usa spybot fan]

There are two files created as back-ups during installation:
regLocal.reg
regUsers.reg
The directory they are created in depends on the OS you have as follows:
Windows 95 or 98:
C:\Windows\Application Data\Spybot - Search & Destroy\Backups
Windows ME:
C:\Windows\All Users\Application Data\Spybot - Search & Destroy\Backups
Windows NT, 2000 or XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Spybot - Search & Destroy\Backups
The two files are exported "REGEDIT4" type files of specific registry keys as follows:
regLocal.reg
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software]
regUsers.reg
[HKEY_USERS]
They are not full backups of the entire registry so I don't know if they will help since you "have a dead machine, that got its registry blown away."

[Jadeblue]

First there was some 100% cpu usage happening so I decided to do a scan.

Because of the "auto-user-abort" bug within SSD, I had to reinstall a fresh copy, right after the install.. the program went thru a registry backup wizard which promptly crashed after a few minutes, so I closed spybot using task manager.

Now I'm scanning, but just to be safe, how do I do a registry backup using SSD? I can't find it within the program. Thanks.

edit - The auto user abort happened again.

I did the steps in the thread:

http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=3155&page=2

1. small fix - done
2. uninstall, reboot - done
3. reinstall, updated - done

.. but the scan just aborts itself a quarter of the way. What is wrong??!

[Zenobia]

I'm sorry,unfortunately I don't know a fix for the User Abort message you're getting,other than what you already tried.

If you would like to try to backup the registry once again,you can open Spybot,click mode,then Advanced Mode,click Settings over to the left,then click Settings below that.At the top of the page,you should see the Wizard button.If you click that,the wizard should open,and you can try backing up your registry once again.If you'd already immunized and updated,if the steps come up in the wizard again,you could keep pressing the Next button until you get to the end,and then you can press the Start using the program button to get rid of the wizard.

[masterthief1324]

There are two files created as back-ups during installation:
regLocal.reg
regUsers.reg
The directory they are created in depends on the OS you have as follows:
Windows 95 or 98:
C:\Windows\Application Data\Spybot - Search & Destroy\Backups
Windows ME:
C:\Windows\All Users\Application Data\Spybot - Search & Destroy\Backups
Windows NT, 2000 or XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Spybot - Search & Destroy\Backups
The two files are exported "REGEDIT4" type files of specific registry keys as follows:
regLocal.reg
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software]
regUsers.reg
[HKEY_USERS]
They are not full backups of the entire registry so I don't know if they will help since you "have a dead machine, that got its registry blown away."


Is it ok to delete the two files?

[md usa spybot fan]

Is it ok to delete the two files?
Yes it is.

[Killthatspy]

First there was some 100% cpu usage happening so I decided to do a scan.

Because of the "auto-user-abort" bug within SSD, I had to reinstall a fresh copy, right after the install.. the program went thru a registry backup wizard which promptly crashed after a few minutes, so I closed spybot using task manager.

Now I'm scanning, but just to be safe, how do I do a registry backup using SSD? I can't find it within the program. Thanks.

edit - The auto user abort happened again.

I did the steps in the thread:

http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=3155&page=2

1. small fix - done
2. uninstall, reboot - done
3. reinstall, updated - done

.. but the scan just aborts itself a quarter of the way. What is wrong??!

I Know Mcafee Antivirus has issues with spybot. If you have mcafeeAV try disabling it then scanning with spybot, Apart from that im stumped on this question.

[Diana]

Hi, Im' brand new here and experiencing a problem. I read through the headings and don't know where to post my question. I'll post it here and if it should be somewhere else could you tell me where to re-post it?
3 weeks ago I was running check for problems and it somehow caused a file I was working on to close and I never was able to open it. From that point Spybot ran very, very slow. Finally I uninstalled and reinstalled it. Since then it tells me no newer updates available [I used to get at least 1 update per week]. When I run check for problems it hang up on 23,368 of 109,940 for at least 10 minutes then finally moves on but takes 3 to 4 hours to complete. Before it only took 45 minutes to an hour. Tonight I noticed a lock on an icon in the lower right hand corner [never saw it there before] and when I highlight on it it says:
SPYBOT-sd RESIDENT 58716 PROCESSES BLACKLISTED aPP:c:\PROGRAM FILE\sPYBOT-SEARCH DESTROY\DATA:\c:\DOCUMENT
then it cuts off. There also have been several messages that popped up after a scan that I didn't understand but had to cancel them to close the program out. Can anyone offer any help? Thank you, Diana

[Zenobia]

The lock on an icon in the lower right hand corner is Teatimer.There is more about it here:
http://www.spybot.info/en/faq/33.html
Which version of Spybot do you have?If you're not sure,you could open Spybot,click Help,then About.

[MadelineC]

Although md usa spybot fan said that it's safe to delete the 2 registry backups created during installation, is it also a good idea to keep them if space isn't a problem? When and how would I be likely to need to use them?

[Zenobia]

You could keep them if you wish.This thread pretty much will give you most of the info you need about the .reg backups:
http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=5772


If you optionally did a "Create registry backup" during the installation process (step 3 of 7), two files are created:
regLocal.reg
regUsers.reg
The directory they are created in depends on the OS you have as follows:
Windows 95 or 98:
C:\Windows\Application Data\Spybot - Search & Destroy\Backups
Windows ME:
C:\Windows\All Users\Application Data\Spybot - Search & Destroy\Backups
Windows NT, 2000 or XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Spybot - Search & Destroy\Backups
The two files are exported "REGEDIT4" type files if specific registry keys as follows:
regLocal.reg
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software]
regUsers.reg
[HKEY_USERS]
There is no facility that I am aware of within Spybot to restore from these backups. Since they are .reg files, to use them all you would have to do is double on the file(s) and Registry Editor should start. If you then clicked "Yes" the content of the file would be added/merged into the registry. You then click "OK" to close the program.

These backups are relatively large portions of the systems Registry and I personally would hesitate to use those backups to restore the Registry (at least in their entirety) because once you've run your system for any period of time they would be outdated and could possibly do has much harm as good.

Incidentally, those backups can be taken at any time by going into Spybot > Mode > Advanced mode > Settings > Settings. Click on the "Wizard" button at the top of the settings screen then click "Create registry backup". Once the registry backup is complete, click "Next" repetitively until you get to step 7 of 7. Then click "Start using the program". Since you are already running Spybot the wizard terminates.

Above pretty much covers the how,and the cautions.When you'd use them is if your registry had been very badly damaged,keeping in mind the backups may be dated,unless you've used the wizard to make a newer backup.I'd probably only use the .reg files that Spybot backed up as a last ditch effort,myself,if nothing else worked.

There's an article here about backing up and restoring the registry in general,without using Spybot,if you'd be interested in looking.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial74.html#backup

[Diana]

I know you feel giving me places to search for answers is the right way to go but for someone like me, I don't understand these answers. I guess I need to know if I can get back to my basic Spybot without all these resident locks as I don't know whether to allow or dis allow them. Also, another file in My Document folder will not open and I have lost what is in it. Can these Resident locks be the cause of my problems. I back up everynight with flash drives and the file won't open there either. I could really use some help here. Thank you, Diana

[MadelineC]

Thanks Zenobia. I'll keep the backups I have for now, they're recent as it's not long since I installed Spybot 1.5. I might make new ones from time to time when I make alterations. I'm going to think about it before I decide finally what to do since reading what both you and md usa spybot fan have said.
Thanks for the Bleeping Computer link.

[Zenobia]

Thanks Zenobia. I'll keep the backups I have for now, they're recent as it's not long since I installed Spybot 1.5. I might make new ones from time to time when I make alterations. I'm going to think about it before I decide finally what to do since reading what both you and md usa spybot fan have said.
Thanks for the Bleeping Computer link
You're welcome. :)


I know you feel giving me places to search for answers is the right way to go but for someone like me, I don't understand these answers. I guess I need to know if I can get back to my basic Spybot without all these resident locks as I don't know whether to allow or dis allow them. Also, another file in My Document folder will not open and I have lost what is in it. Can these Resident locks be the cause of my problems. I back up everynight with flash drives and the file won't open there either. I could really use some help here. Thank you, Diana

You can turn off resident Teatimer by opening Spybot,clicking Mode,then Advanced Mode,saying yes to the prompt,then clicking Tools,then Resident,and unchecking resident "Teatimer".That will get you back to the basic Spybot,without all the prompts from Teatimer.
While you're already in the Resident section of Spybot,could you rightclick somewhere in the text to the right,then select 'select all',then rightclick again and select Copy,then paste it here,if it will all fit.I'm not sure if the Resident locks are part of the problem with Spybot or not,but if you copy/paste the text from that here(the Teatimer log),it will show what some of the prompts you were getting from Teatimer may have been,and it might help to give some ideas as to what has been happening.

Which firewall are you using?The no newer updates could possibly be your Firewall not allowing Spybot to update,and you might need to configure your Firewall to allow Spybot to update.

You probably have the newest Spybot,but I'd like to know for sure,so could you open Spybot,click Help,then About,then let me know what number you see there.

What type of document was it you were working on,a wordpad document,notepad,etc.?

In your first post,you said that boxes began popping up after a Spybot scan.Can you remember if there were items found in red after the Spybot scan,before the Teatimer boxes began popping up?Have you been having any other computer problems?

[msnuser193]

:D:When I clicked on the registry backup, an error saying that it can not access the registry.

Maybe some files are in use, causing it not to work.

What should i do?

[MrWindblade]

I had a computer's registry go bad on my recently, so what I chose to do was use an External Hard Drive Enclosure (you can also use a hotswap if you want) and used the Windows Repair file to restore the registry to the first time Windows opened.

It's not exactly ideal, but if the hard drive still posts you should be able to do it.

Before I give you the location of the file, I have a few warnings:
1. This is not the same as a system restore point. Using this method of registry repair can, and often does, cause many of your current hardware drivers to cease function. If you have components like video cards, video capture boards, modems, LAN adapters, etc. they will need to be reinstalled on the computer before they're operational.

2. If the issue is related to the SOFTWARE registry tree, using the SOFTWARE registry file to repair will remove the registry entries for your Add/Remove programs list, so you will probably need to reinstall nearly all of the software on the computer, because these registry entries are often used to help update your software, rather than scanning your computer for the location of your files.

3. If there is any possibility that the errors are a result of another component in your computer, this can hide the actual problem amidst a plethora of other needs.

The file containing the original registry entries for the first time you opened windows is found here:

'C':\WINDOWS\repair

C is replaced, as normal, with whatever drive your OS is on. Please note that, since you're doing this repair by connecting the hard drive from your damaged computer to another computer, the OS you're doing this to is NOT the one you're operating. Making this repair on an otherwise functional computer is far from ideal.

The location that these files should be copied (not simply moved) to is

'C':\WINDOWS\system32\config

I don't recommend moving the file named "software" because, as I said above, this may require you to reinstall everything.

For more information and other details:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

This will not wipe your secondary storage, so all of your documents and such will still be intact. In fact, even if you move the software registry file, the program installs will still exist on the hard drive. It can be quite tedious to manually remove these issues, and, if at all possible, try to use the Windows Recovery console on the disks that came with your computer or your Windows OS disk. Ideally, you would use this method to fetch your data and then format the drive along with a fresh OS reinstall, but it seemed like that might have been out of the question for you.