[SOLVED] Importing registry safe?

[kanishknishar]

I got my rig professionally overclocked recently and the overclocker told me that he made many registry changes. To not lose the OS, I did a system image backup via Windows. But for more safety, I exported the registry.

My question is: If I were to reinstall Windows 10, could I simply import the registry with no issues or is it more complex than that?

 

[jojesa]

If there were changes made only to the Registry, then you should be able to restore it with no issues.

 

[kanishknishar]

If there were changes made only to the Registry, then you should be able to restore it with no issues.

As opposed to? It's a new installation so things would be different.

 

[jojesa]

As opposed to? It's a new installation so things would be different.

I thought you were re-installing Windows with the backup you made, before changes were made to the Windows Registry by the overclocker.

If you perform a clean installation and then restore the Windows Registry, it could have adverse effects if the version of Windows is different from the one you got the Windows Registry backup.

 

[USAFRet]

My question is: If I were to reinstall Windows 10, could I simply import the registry with no issues or is it more complex than that?

This will fail.

 

[kanishknishar]

This will fail.

What is registry import/export for? It's restricted to the current version of Windows you use? So if I were to get 1910 installed then the registry couldn't be exported?

Also is it OK to change the permission of WindowsImageBackup? I couldn't back it up to Backup Drive and Sync so I changed it to include myself as owner and gave my user account full access.

 

[USAFRet]

What is registry import/export for? It's restricted to the current version of Windows you use? So if I were to get 1910 installed then the registry couldn't be exported?

Also is it OK to change the permission of WindowsImageBackup? I couldn't back it up to Backup Drive and Sync so I changed it to include myself as owner and gave my user account full access.

Importing a Reg from a different Windows install will fail.
And a new install on the same hardware is a different install.

Exp/Imp is good for exporting a current copy of the Reg, and then importing it back if/when you screw something up.
It is not for Importing across Windows installs.

Changing permissions on the WindowsImageBackup?
I would not. I don't use that function, but I can't image that is a good thing to do.
Many Windows functions and locations, you do NOT want to change the permissions. The system has its own set of permissions for various things, and if you change that, things will break.

 

[kanishknishar]

Importing a Reg from a different Windows install will fail.
And a new install on the same hardware is a different install.

Exp/Imp is good for exporting a current copy of the Reg, and then importing it back if/when you screw something up.
It is not for Importing across Windows installs.

Changing permissions on the WindowsImageBackup?
I would not. I don't use that function, but I can't image that is a good thing to do.
Many Windows functions and locations, you do NOT want to change the permissions. The system has its own set of permissions for various things, and if you change that, things will break.

OK but how do I upload the backup without changing the ownership? I want it online to save my rig for posterity.

 

[USAFRet]

OK but how do I upload the backup without changing the ownership? I want it online to save my rig for posterity.

Posterity?
Why?

It is only good in the context of the current Windows install. And even then, it goes stale quickly.

But, within the current Windows install, in the Registry Editor - Export and Import are directly available in the File dropdown.

 

[kanishknishar]

Posterity?
Why?

It is only good in the context of the current Windows install. And even then, it goes stale quickly.

But, within the current Windows install, in the Registry Editor - Export and Import are directly available in the File dropdown.

I got my PC professionally overclocked along with fixing my bootup issues. The guy said that he made a lot of registry changes.

If I were to lose my current installation, all those changes would be lost.

 

[USAFRet]

I got my PC professionally overclocked along with fixing my bootup issues. The guy said that he made a lot of registry changes.

If I were to lose my current installation, all those changes would be lost.

For a whole new install, the Registry from this install is null and void. There are many many many other things that are changed.

 

[cryoburner]

It's worth pointing out that unless you know of some reason you will be reinstalling Windows in the near-future, you "probably" won't need to reinstall it any time soon. Most people don't ever re-install it unless something goes drastically wrong with their system or they make major hardware changes that require it. As time goes on, it's also possible that updates to Windows or drivers may make existing registry optimizations unnecessary, as the software evolves over time.

In any case, if you have a backup image of your Windows install as you received it, presumably you should be able to restore everything to that state from that. It might be a good idea to store a copy of the backup image on a second drive though, in case the first should fail.

And so long as the overclocking was done in the system's BIOS, as it usually is, reinstalling Windows shouldn't affect that.