Select Registry Hive Files (*.*) from the unlabeled
listbox next to the File name field, select the .hive file to import, and
click Open.
There are two things worth noting about this backup procedure. First, it
makes use of Registry hive files, which are binary files, and the same type of
file Windows uses to store the Registry it uses day-to-day. If you were to
instead export ordinary Registry patch files??”which is what you??™d get if
Registration Files (*.reg) was selected in step 4??”then you??™d end up with
files that couldn??™t be easily restored back into the Registry. This is because
the Registry Editor only merges patch files with existing Registry data, which
can leave errant data intact, as described in ???Export and Import Data with
Registry Patches,??? earlier in this chapter. When the Registry Editor imports
hive files, however, it deletes the existing keys from the Registry before
bringing in the new (backed-up) data.
Registry patches can be handy for backing up individual
keys, as explained in the upcoming sidebar, ???The Local
Backup.???
118 | Chapter 3: The Registry
Second, notice that only HKEY_CURRENT_USER and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE are
backed up here, leaving HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_USERS, and HKEY_CURRENT_
CONFIG seemingly unprotected. This is done because the data in HKEY_
CLASSES_ROOT and HKEY_USERS is duplicated in the first two root keys (HKLM
and HKCU, respectively) and HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG is dynamically generated
and not stored on the hard disk at all.
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