Remote Registry Access-Resolved.

Hi.

I'm hoping someone can help me with this.
It actually concerns 2 access problems.
One is on the same machine,the other is on a remote computer,not on a domain.
The situation is like this:
1.XP Pro on C:\ and another XP Pro on D:\ (separate licenses)
How do I access the Registry of XP on D:\ when running XP on C:\ ?
By access I mean full access - open the Registry,scan,create or delete values and export values,keys,hives etc.
The Registry of XP on D:\ was not previously set to be accessed remotely.

2.The question for the remote computer is almost identical.
I can access the computer ,files etc,but how do I get into and edit the Registry?

Thanks in advance,
Pete.

 

You can boot to C:, open the registry editor, and load the hives from D: for editing. Basic instructions here.

Remote Registry Access applies to a system that is in use. It would not apply to D: if logged on to C:, or C: if logged on to D:

 

Hi noadhfear,

Thanks very much for the quick reply.
From the link, it looks like there are a lot of similarities between that case and mine.
My initial attempt ,from a user account with Admin privileges,
won't let me access the File > Load Hive setting(grayed out) .
I'll have to retry via the Admin account.
I'm now reading the whole thread that your link referred to.
That'll take me a while .This is a l.o.o.o.ng thread.
I'll get back to you when I have some more to report and
also to get more info re the other machine's remote Registry access.

For the benefit of other readers,below is the section that I used.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~For informational purposes only:
Yes. You can load the registry hives that are not in use for viewing and editing. Open the registry editor and click HKLM to select it. Click File on the menu, then Load Hive. Browse to C:\Windows\system32\config (the original Windows path) and select a hive. The software hive represents HKLM\Software, the system hive represents HKLM\system, the default hive represents HKU\.default, etc. Once a hive is selected, you will be prompted to give the key a name. Use something like play or test so that it's easily distinguished from the others. It will appear under the HKLM key along with the other sub keys. You will notice some differences when the hives are loaded in this way, vs normal viewing of the registry for the OS you are logged onto, especially in the system hive. When finished working with the loaded hive, select the key (play), then click File>Unload Hive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Pete.

 

You can only load a hive after first selecting either the HKEY_Local_Machine or HKEY_Users key to load it under.

 

Hi Dave,

Yes I did,but apparently my account did not have permission .
Anyway,I did logon to the Admin account and you instructions worked like a charm
Your instruction to use "Test" was also amusing,since XP on D:\ is a test setup
and I had also named it Test for identification (Original eh?)

Without you knowing,your answer already helped another 2 people(2 friends of mine),
so all in all,very valuable advice.

Just wondering, is remote Registry access ,on a remote machine (not on the same network or on a domain,similar to this?
Access is by invitation.It amounts to remote Help.

Pete.

 

Glad to have helped

While I've used remote assistance on several occasions to help people, I've never accessed the registry while doing so. I would expect that it works in the same way as remote assistance though, in that the registry editor opens on the remote machine only, and you can see and control what's happening as long as the remote client allows it.

 

Well you certainly did,thanks very much again.

As to the other machine,it's currenty off-line and I haven't received an invite
at this time.Will try that the next time I'm connected.

One thing I forgot:Back to C:\ and D:\ which btw are separate (physical) harddrives.
Is there a way to use a registry cleaner on D:\ when logged on to C:\ ?

Pete.

 

Registry cleaners can be dangerous enough when cleaning the local machines registry and the majority of linking between hives is valid. There is in my mind no question that trying to run a cleaner on a hive loaded from another system would be pc homicide.......not only to the loaded hive, but likely to your own registry as well.

 

Hi Dave,

You're so right about that,however I never delete things indiscriminately
and I always make sure that I either export questionable values or make a backup through the Cleaner.
Either way you can restore the data to the Registry.

I guess you mean "PC-cide" ?

Anyway,I'll mark this thread as resolved.
Thanks for all your help.

Pete.

 

PC-cide ..... LOL!

Oddly enough, and it was a first for me, I ran a registry cleaner just the other day on someone's PC (same cleaner I've used for years and never had a problem with) and decided I wanted to restore the cleaning to look for something in particular. Upon trying to restore the backup, I was told the registry could not be accessed. Since the backup files are actually registry files, I manually tried to merge them ....... access denied. Upon viewing the backups, I could find no reason for them to not work. No problem merging any other reg files either. I copied the information I wanted from the backups into a new reg file and merged it no problem. I guess my point here is, you can't always count on the backups working either, so if you're gonna play with the registry, be prepared for anything.

 

Hi Dave,

You're right and it is one of the reasons I trust my own,
manually exported reg files more than a program's backups
and also copied or cloned files more than backups from a program with its
proprietary backup extension.
But that may be just my own cautious approach
Besides,I can store those backups anywhere,since they're not tied to a program.

Pete.