Changes to the Registry Checker Tool (Scanreg.exe) in Windows Me (273889)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
This article was previously published under Q273889

SUMMARY

The Registry Checker tool (Scanreg.exe) in Windows Millennium Edition (Me) has been updated to support all of its operations from within Windows.

MORE INFORMATION

The following command-line options are supported in Windows or by booting to Safe mode:

Command lineDescriptionRestart required
scanreg /restoreYou can select from a list of registry backups based on date and time, and restore the registry to the selected backup.Yes
scanreg /fixRepairs damage to the registry's internal data structures and compacts it.Yes
scanreg /optRemoves excess free space from the registry. Performed automatically during startup, when more than 500 KB of excess free space is detected in the registry files.No

These commands are documented in the Microsoft Windows 98 Resource Kit, but function only in real mode (by booting to a command prompt) in Windows 98.

The listed command-line options are all still available in real mode in Windows Me (by booting from the Startup disk), by running Scanreg.exe. You can do this simply by typing the scanreg /option command because the default path to Scanreg.exe is automatically part of the environment.

Registry Checker supports scanning, backing up, and restoring user-profile registry files (User.dat) in the Windows folder, within the Profiles\User_name folders. This support is enabled automatically, but you can disable it by adding the following line to the Scanreg.ini file in the Windows folder:

UserProfiles=0 ; (set to 1 to re-enable)

REFERENCES

For additional information about the Registry Checker tool, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

183887 Description of the Windows Registry Checker Tool (Scanreg.exe)

For additional information about Registry Checker command-line switches , click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

184023 Command-Line Switches for the Registry Checker Tool

For additional information about Registry Checker and startup, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

198864 Registry Is Not Backed Up Automatically at Startup

For additional information about the registry and user profiles, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

250410 Description of the Registry Files in Windows 98/95

For additional information about user profiles, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

161334 Guide to Windows NT 4.0 Profiles and Policies (Part 1 of 6)

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:9/28/2004
Keywords:kbinfo KB273889
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.