TechBite: Save your PCs Bacon – Back up your Registry

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By Steve Bass

Hello ERUNT, Adios System Restore

I gave up on Windows System Restore. Yep, I turned the feature off and replaced it with a freebie I like better.

Why System Restore Isn’t So Hot

System Restore is a recovery tool built into Windows that backs up and restores the Registry. System Restore takes a snapshot of your computer — called a restore point — once a day, as well as before you perform certain tasks, such as installing a new program. If all goes well, you can use a restore point later on to bring your PC back to the state it was in when the snapshot was taken. But remember, we’re talking about computers.

Sometimes System Restore doesn’t work. You click a restore point and Windows has a hearty, gleeful laugh. The problem is that each restore point is linked to previous points; if one is corrupt or missing, you’re out of luck: System Restore won’t work. (Learn more about the ins and outs of System Restore in Bert Kinney’s smart and thorough FAQ.)

My Love Affair with ERUNT

For the last year, I’ve been using the Emergency Recovery Utility NT. Affectionately known as ERUNT, it’s a free tool that automatically backs up your Registry and allows you to restore it. And despite its name, it works with Windows XP and Vista, including 64-bit editions.

The tremendous advantage of ERUNT is that each restore point is independent of the other points. If one goes kaflooey, the others will still work. Nice also is being able to back up a restore point to an external drive or stick it onto an online storage site.
I let ERUNT do its backup thing each morning; when you install it, that’s the default. The program saves a week of restore points (plenty, in my opinion) and automatically deletes older ones. You can set a restore point manually at any time, too.

ARTICLE CONTINUED HERE

This post is excerpted with Steve’s permission from his TechBite blog.

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