Access to registry files from DOS?

[FrogMaster 0]

Does exist a way or some utility that would allow viewing/editing the W2K hive files in the config subdir?

They are in some compressed format, are they? What is the format of the database?

I want to get rid of an 'INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE' error without having to reinstall dozens of apps. I get this error after having set up a raid 0 array. I want to enter manually the raid driver into the registry.

Raid array is fat32 and can be accessed under dos (or from the Win98 partition).

BTW, repair install with F6 pressed does not solve the problem.

Hope there is a trick.

If there is none --->

Access from DOS would be great for a lot of purposes in case of problems.

Thanks in advance.

[Sampson 0]

The problem won't be resolved in the way you are contemplating. You need to give more information - the motherboard, IDE controller, whether it is a VIA chipset, type of hard drives you are using. For example, some ATA100 drives have to be treated as SCSI drives in the BIOS for W2K to recognize them.

[FrogMaster 0]

Thanks for answering but I know exactly what I want to do in the registry: manually integrate the Promise Fastrack (yes, declared as scsi mass storage) raid controller driver where it should be, as PnpEnum, pci device number, manufacturer's string id, etc. so that the OS takes it when booting, which is not the case at the moment (error message points at the OS not seeing the boot disk).

Microsoft's knowledge base has an answer about the error and gives good hints for solving the problem from within W2K.

What I am basically looking for is an utility or a trick which would allow me to open, edit and save the W2K config files from outside W2K.

I could easily solve the problem by un-ghosting the original saved partition, to a drive on the regular #0 ide channel 1, launch W2K, install the drivers, re-ghost the partition, un-ghost again to the raid array.

But I want to do it the dirty way for the fun of it, ie rip open the registry from outside W2K and put my hands in it

This would be very useful in many situations to restore a screwed install or to make changes or some tidying.

The sig tells about the original config (before adding a pair of 40 Gigs HDs on the raid controller) but this will not help.

[FrogMaster 0]

Sorry, Guys, here is the link to the knowledge base I forgot to give.

http://support.microsoft.com/search/preview.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q271965

Moving a boot disk to another system is similar to moving a boot disk to another (different technology) drive controller on the same machine.

[Dirty Harry 0]

Still the original question remains; is there a tool to edit the registry from a dos prompt? I've also been looking for such a tool for a while, but haven't found one.

 

You can however edit the registry remotely, follow this LINK for instructions.

 

H.

[Sampson 0]

Maybe you could try this. http://www.imaginelan.com/regsafe/index.html Have never used it myself, but it seems to indicate that it can function with a hard drive that has failed.

[Davros 0]

Not sure if this will work in Win2K, but you can try.

Make a .reg file of the changes you need to make to the registry, and save it to your winnt folder. Then in dos import it like this:

C:\winnt\regedit C:\winnt\filename.reg.

[FrogMaster 0]

Dirty Harry,

Thx, very good and informative link ... but I understand (I may be wrong) you have to be in W2K to do stuff

Sampson,

Thx,I'll check this further as the way it would work is not clear

Davros,

regedit will not work in DOS

I am posting from a W2K reinstall in a new folder on the same partition on the raid array as the one which does not work.

I have copied all the user profiles and data over the new ones from the Win98 install and it seems to work (had to reinstall some windows updates).

Yes, the question(s) is(are) the same:

What is the format of the hive files in the config subdir?

Is there an utility or a database app out there that would allow to open/edit these files?

Very interesting as it opens a lot of perspective, including security issues.

[Dirty Harry 0]

Yes, you have to be in W2K (or XP / NT) but if you multiboot or you're on a LAN it should work. Or if you have a "reinstall in a new folder....

 

H.

[Davros 0]

The registry files are binary, so ascii text editors won't work. There are some 3rd party utilities out there, but you will have to search for them. These pretty much do what regedit does.

 

Regedit will work in dos. Try this one. It is version 4, from Windows 95. When you make your .reg file in notepad, make sure the first line is REGEDIT4 and also make sure there is an extra blank line at the end of all the data. Also, this version is limited to a .reg file size of 64k.

When in dos, type regedit /? to get options.

[FrogMaster 0]

Thanks, I'll give it a try next week when I'm back from this biz trip.

I'll come back to keep you informed.

Regtards

[Davros 0]

did he call us retards?

[FrogMaster 0]

Davros,

Sorry if you felt offended.

In fact I am moving a lot around, sometimes to random destinations (at really short advance notice) for my job and cannot always have a decent internet connexion to keep in touch and follow up.

I have downloaded the file from your link and will play with it asap.

Well , I am confused

[clutch 1]

No FrogMaster, he was just referring to the misspelling of "regards" in your signoff, hence the laughing smilie. I don't believe he (nor anyone else) took offense.

[Davros 0]

Lol, I was joking about your typo "Regtards" in your previous post.

 

Nobody is rushing you, just take your time, we are all here to help.