In order to restore one of your copies of the registry you must boot into DOS. There are three basic ways to boot into pure DOS.
Windows® 98 does start
To restore the registry you can use two ways: automatic and manual.
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Automatic method:
To restore the registry to one of it's previous states, you can use the Start Menu -> Registry First Aid group -> Registry restore shortcut. You will be prompted to restart Windows®. After restarting you will see a restore screen with all registry backups you have.
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Manual method:
Boot computer into pure DOS using one of the methods described in the "Windows® 98 does not start" topic, or if you are in Windows® you can go to Start/Shut Down... and select Restart in MS-DOS mode. The computer will restart in pure DOS (not a DOS box in Windows® - very important distinction).
Once you've restarted the computer in MS-DOS mode, type SCANREG.EXE /RESTORE command. This utility will ask you what backup file you want to restore. You will see a list of backups like the following:
04/02/02 rb004.cab Not Started RFA_backup
04/02/02 rb003.cab Not Started
04/02/02 rb002.cab Not Started RFA_backup
04/02/02 rb001.cab Started
Using the arrow keys, select the CAB (the CABs you will see are archived copies of the Registry) you want. The CAB files are listed by date with the most recent copy at the top. The CABs with the "RFA_backup" labels were created by Registry First Aid before the registry scans. You can restore either the latest Registry First Aid's CAB or the most recent CAB created at the system startup (it has the "Started" label).
Once you've restored the Registry, use the arrow keys to highlight Exit and then reboot. You should now be able to boot back into Windows® 98 normally, just as before you edited the Registry or had a problem.
Windows® 98 does not start
You should start the computer into pure DOS by holding down the Ctrl key as soon as the BIOS information clears the screen. As soon as the menu appears, press the Space Bar (or any other key) once. This will keep the menu active and allow you the time to read over the selections available. Choose Command Prompt Only from the menu. You will then be in Pure DOS.
OR
If you are having trouble booting your computer, you can use a Windows® 98 boot floppy disk. It can be created from the Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs -> Windows-> Create boot disk. Of course, this should be done before any problems can appear. Insert the disk into the floppy drive and reboot the computer.
Warning! Make sure that your backups are current. If you restore an old backup it could be fatal if you've made major changes to the operating system or hardware since the backups were created. For example, if you've installed Internet Explorer 6 and restore your registry from a backup predating that, expect that your computer won't boot properly.