To restore the registry [...]]]> I needed to run a system restore on a windows xp pc the other day but the system wouldn’t boot into to normal or safe mode so i needed to run a system restore from dos i found an article to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents xp from booting. KB307545

To restore the registry boot from the windows xp cd at start the recovery console when prompted then type the following commands.

md tmp
copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\software c:\windows\tmp\software.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\security c:\windows\tmp\security.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\default c:\windows\tmp\default.bak

delete c:\windows\system32\config\system
delete c:\windows\system32\config\software
delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam
delete c:\windows\system32\config\security
delete c:\windows\system32\config\default

copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

then reboot and hope it starts this obviously doesn’t replace any system files like a true system restore does but hopefully it will let the system start.