regitry backup via CCleaner

I was having a problem with my internet service software and just incase I wanted to restore my last registry backup of the definitions I removed when I ran CCleaner ! When I right clicked on the backup and clicked on merge it opened a file in notepad with the contents of the backup ,however Iam curious if it also merged the listings in the backup with my registry . Also my systems bootup time is extermely slow does anyone know of a good trouble shooting method for slow bootup time ? I ran the system file checker a Windows Utility start button/run "sfc /scannow" however that did not help the bootup problem ? Iam running WindowsXP Pro SP3 MCE 2005 on a 2.8 GHz Dual Core proccessor, 3 G.B. DDR2 RAM ,250 G.B. internial H.D. 320 G.B. externial H.D. ATI Graphic's PCI-Express and also an ATI TV Wonder Elite PCI TV Tuner card . Any help greatly appreciated !

Thank You Nick

Hi,

Hover over the CCleaner backup file it should be type: Registration Entries.

If not, please post back what type of file it is.

If so, right click on the file and go to "Open With" and choose Registry Editer.

You can select "Choose Program" and select Registry Editer then check the box "Always use this program to open this kind of file", click ok.

If its still associated with registry editor, you can right click -> merge

If its still associated with registry editor, you can right click -> merge

Nic did right click -> merge and it opened in notepad.

It's safe to say that the file is not associated with the registry editor.

After confirming that it is in fact a .reg file, it must be re-associated with the registry editor.

Was I not clear in my post or am I missing something. :)

Nic did right click -> merge and it opened in notepad.

It's safe to say that the file is not associated with the registry editor.

After confirming that it is in fact a .reg file, it must be re-associated with the registry editor.

Was I not clear in my post or am I missing something. :)

Ah, I misread his post. :lol: disregard mine. :)

Ah, I misread his post. :lol: disregard mine. :)

No problem. ;)

Hi Nic replying to your reply to my post . First of all thank you for trying to help ! When I roll the cursor over the registry entry it does indeed call the file "Registration Entries " however when I right click and select merge it only opens in notepad . I tried the "open with" option and it says recomended application "Notepad" and the list of other options does not have the registry editor listed . I can select browse however I have no idea where the registry editor is located, can you help me on the location of the editor ? Greatly appreciate your help !

Thanks Again ,Nic

If you're on XP you can find it here ... C:\WINDOWS\regedit.exe

Also you can re-associate reg files in xp, see here

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm

Also you can re-associate reg files in xp, see here

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm

Though in Nic's case he can just repeat his own steps above and check the 'Always use the selected program to open this kind of file' box in the Open With dialog box when he's entered the regedit path.

Also you can re-associate reg files in xp, see here

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm

Indeed!

Download that regfile association fix.

Now the best thing to do, when double-clicking the downloaded regfile will not produce the "Are you sure you want to add the information in *FileName.reg* to the registry?" prompt either, is open the Registry Editor (Start > Run > type regedit , then press OK or hit 'Enter')

Choose 'Import' from the 'File' menu

Browse to the downloaded regfile , highlight it, and press the 'Open' button.

You should be told that 'the information in *filename.reg* was successfully added to the Registry.

That ought to fix your problem, unless something else is 'broken' as well.

That ought to fix your problem, unless something else is 'broken' as well.

Sadly that always seems to be the case when registry related issues arise. ;)

I went ahead and entered the registry fix (doughknox) and following the instruction listed in your repy it accepted it and said it had been entered to my registry ,now all of my registry enteries CCleaner backups are listed as opening with registry editor ! However when I try to add any of them (had several backups saved fropm CCleaner) I recieved a prompt that the "cannot import file to registry" could this be a problem now with CCleaner backups only ,do I have to try to merge each registry entry listed one at a time ? Please your futher help in this area would be greatly appreciated :-)

Thank You Nic

I went ahead and entered the registry fix (doughknox) and following the instruction listed in your repy it accepted it and said it had been entered to my registry ,now all of my registry enteries CCleaner backups are listed as opening with registry editor ! However when I try to add any of them (had several backups saved fropm CCleaner) I recieved a prompt that the "cannot import file to registry" could this be a problem now with CCleaner backups only ,do I have to try to merge each registry entry listed one at a time ? Please your futher help in this area would be greatly appreciated :-)

Thank You Nic

I think this is because of the previous notepad association. Try this with one file:

Take a copy of it just in case. (Right-click then Copy then Paste).

Open the file in notepad. Do File / Save As to get the Save dialog box open.

Check the encoding ... it probably says ANSI. Change it to Unicode and save the file by overwriting (you already have a back-up copy).

Double-click the newly saved reg file to merge it into the registry.

If that works you can do the same with your other entries; though there's no need to keep taking copies once you've made sure it works.

Thank you Marmite for your help , Iam sorry to say that Iam not familar with "checking the encoding" Could you walk me thru that procedure and then I can move forward with your instructions on reassociating the .reg backups made with CCleaner . I just downloaded the newer ver of CCleaner however I have not installed it yet ! I want to finish troubleshooting this prob . Is there anyway I can create a test registry key outside of CCleaner and then see if it will merge with the registry ,that way I will know if its only with the CCleaner registry backups that Iam having the merge problem ?

Thanks Again ,Nic

Hi Nic ... you see the encoding in a drop-down when you have the Save As box open ... it's just part of the the way the file is saved.

Just follow through slowly and post back if it's still not clear :)

post-31469-1264868859_thumb.png

Is there anyway I can create a test registry key outside of CCleaner and then see if it will merge with the registry ,that way I will know if its only with the CCleaner registry backups that Iam having the merge problem ?

If it is an encoding problem (something I've seen before) it's not CCleaner back-ups causing the problem, but it's because there was a file association with notepad. Now that you've changed the association you shouldn't get any problems with CCleaner reg back-ups that you take in future.

You also have to have a valid "header" in .REG files otherwise they simply won't work, examples:

  • REGEDIT4
  • Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

Could look something like these examples with registry data included:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Some Program]

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Some Program]

If the "header" is missing you can input at the very top on of these:

  • REGEDIT4
  • Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

You also have to have a valid "header" in .REG files otherwise they simply won't work

Theat's true, although I believe the files in question are CCleaner back-ups, so file content shouldn't be an issue unless they have been edited.

The encoding issue is one I've both seen and experienced when a reg file has been saved in notepad but in default ANSI format.

Nic a glance at the header (just the first line) should confirm that it looks like one of the two values in Andavari's post..

Nic here and I want to thank everyone once again for your input . I opened the registry editor and browsed my way to HYKEY_CURRENT_USER/software / however there was no "some program" entry ? Could you once again in the order I would create this key including its value give me step by step directions ! Iam nervous when it comes to messing with the registry becasue I know doing the wrong thing can bring your system to its knees ! I will try the copy paste thing with a back up . However I have a feeling that may fail being I do not have proper key ,its odd how the registry merge worked with my registry editor when I entered the downloaded registry fix dough knox , I opened that file in notepad and a the top it has the text "Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00"

! Is this what you want me to enter at the top of the CCleaner reg backups ? I will go ahead and try with one of CCleaners backups and see if it merges ,I will check back later for instructions on the some program key .

Thank You Very Much

Nic

return edit > each of CCleaner backups have this as a header already > Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

also whern I try to save as on a backup under encoding it already is listed as unicode ?

Error I recieve when tryig to merge ccleaner backup >Registry Editor

Cannot importC:\Documents and Settings\Nicholas\My Documents\miscdocs\cc_2010021_214045.reg:Error accessing the registry

OK