Load other users CURRENT_USER reg hive?

[Eiji Shinjo]

I just reinstalled Vista x64 SP2 due to the previous installation failing due to corrupt system files. I have managed to import almost everything apart from soem registry settings I really need access to.

When I highlight HKEY_CURRENT_USER in regedit I cannot load the SOFTWARE hive from the previous installation as the Load Hive option is greyed out. How can I access the SOFTWARE hive?

Thanks.

One of the keys I specifically need access to in the old HIVE is:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Favorites

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\JOConnell\DeskTop

[Flantec]

Click on HKEY LOCAL MACHINE and you will be able to load the hive in a key below that. Just remember to unload it when you are finished. thanks,

[Eiji Shinjo]

  On 07/12/2010 at 00:16, Flannny said:

Click on HKEY LOCAL MACHINE and you will be able to load the hive in a key below that. Just remember to unload it when you are finished. thanks,

I did that but I can't find the keys I need. Is it a permissions issue since it is a hive from a previous installation?

[blankuser]

Right click and run regedit.exe as that user to see their regkey.

[Eiji Shinjo]

  On 07/12/2010 at 00:30, blankuser said:

Right click and run regedit.exe as that user to see their regkey.

I can't as the installation the registry files are from is long gone. I've been googling and there seems to be some trick involved with using the ntuser.dat from the old installation.

Any idea?

[Raa]

That's the file you should be loading for the user's profile. (Y)

Have you tried using Windows 7? Sounds like you've had bad luck with Vista. :/

[xdot.tk]

You need to load NTUSER.DAT, located in your profile folder, not software.

[Eiji Shinjo]

  On 07/12/2010 at 00:38, FalsePositive said:

You need to load NTUSER.DAT, located in your profile folder, not software.

I take it you mean the systemprofile folder?

I loaded NTUSER.DAT under HKLM & HKU but I only get a few keys. Do I load the SOFTWARE hive after loading the NTUSER.DAT?

I need some clarification.

Thanks.

Edit:

Ok, loaded the NTUSER.DAT for Administrators under HKU rather than my own username and found the MenuOrder key :D but I can't find the other key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\JOConnell\DeskTop

[xdot.tk]

JOConnell is your username or some software maker?

[Eiji Shinjo]

  On 07/12/2010 at 00:50, FalsePositive said:

JOConnell is your username or some software maker?

It's the name of the software maker of Desktop Restore.

http://www.midiox.com/desktoprestore.htm

The regkey is where the icon order for the desktop resides. My desktop is a mess right now but if I can get the key from my old installation then everything will be in order.

[xdot.tk]

OK I thought maybe Vista made usernames or something in the registry. I don't know why it's not showing up. HKEY Current User is in NTUSER.DAT so it should be there if that's the real location it's stored in.

Load it under LOCAL MACHINE.

[Eiji Shinjo]

No luck :(

Also realised that the MenuOrder key I got earlier from the Admin NTUSER.DAT is very old. I need one from the registry that was used on my account (also had admin privaleges).

I can't find an NTUSER.DAT under my profile name is USERS folder, only one in the Admin folder and one in c:\windows\system32\config\systemprofile

[lars77]

Not sure what to say, it's gotta be there..it's been that way since like Win XP. The file in your admin user profile is probably the wrong one, unless that was your normal day-to-day user account before re-installing Windows? User reg files are always in %userprofile%\NTUSER.DAT. For Vista 64-bit by default it would be:

C:\Users\<your user name>\NTUSER.DAT

One thing, make sure you have explorer set to show all files, including system files (e.g. in Control Panel open Folder Options, under View make sure "Show hidden files and folders" is checked & "Hide protected operating system files" is unchecked).

If the NTUSER.DAT file really isn't in your old user profile folder, perhaps your previous system issues may have wipe it out? I dunno what the odds of that happening are, but you never know.

Only other thing I could think of is maybe you wrote over your old profile folder(s) when you re-installed Windows? Could maybe happen if you re-installed to the same drive & used the same username as before..I've never done this so maybe someone else knows for sure if that would over-write your old user profile files. (but I think even if that happened then your old profile folder would be renamed to something like <your user name>.old)

[Eiji Shinjo]

  On 07/12/2010 at 04:49, lars77 said:

Not sure what to say, it's gotta be there..it's been that way since like Win XP. The file in your admin user profile is probably the wrong one, unless that was your normal day-to-day user account before re-installing Windows? User reg files are always in %userprofile%\NTUSER.DAT. For Vista 64-bit by default it would be:

C:\Users\<your user name>\NTUSER.DAT

One thing, make sure you have explorer set to show all files, including system files (e.g. in Control Panel open Folder Options, under View make sure "Show hidden files and folders" is checked & "Hide protected operating system files" is unchecked).If the NTUSER.DAT file really isn't in your old user profile folder, perhaps your previous system issues may have wipe it out? I dunno what the odds of that happening are, but you never know.

Only other thing I could think of is maybe you wrote over your old profile folder(s) when you re-installed Windows? Could maybe happen if you re-installed to the same drive & used the same username as before..I've never done this so maybe someone else knows for sure if that would over-write your old user profile files. (but I think even if that happened then your old profile folder would be renamed to something like <your user name>.old)

Brilliant, that was it, thank you! :D