Error Message: Restore Operation Failed

When you attempt to manually restore a previous copy of your computer registry using the scanreg command with the /restore switch (scanreg /restore), you may receive the following error message:

To resolve this issue, manually restore the registry files:

NOTE: The following procedure may also be useful if you want to restore a registry that does not appear in the Scanreg tool. This occurs because you can use the Scanreg.ini file to save more that five backups, but Scanreg only displays the five oldest registries. You can also use this method to install a backup registry that does not appear in Scanreg.

1. Restart your computer, press and hold CTRL until the Windows 98 Startup Menu appears, and then choose Safe Mode Command Prompt Only.
2. At the command prompt, type path=c:\windows\command, and then press ENTER.
3. At the command prompt, type the following commands, pressing ENTER after each command:
   cd windows\sysbckup
   md temp
   dir rb*.cab
4. In the list of .cab files that start with "rb" (such as Rb000.cab), note the name and date of the newest file, the second newest file, and the third newest file.
5. At the command prompt, type the following commands, pressing ENTER after each command:
   
   
   copy rb .cab file name c:\windows\sysbckup\temp
   cd temp
   extract /e rb .cab file name *.*
   attrib -r -s -h *.dat
   cd \windows
   attrib -r -s -h user.dat
   attrib -r -s -h system.dat
   ren system.dat *.xxx
   ren user.dat *.xxx
   ren system.ini *.yyy
   ren win.ini *.xxx
   copy c:\windows\sysbckup\temp\*.*
   where rb .cab file name is the name of the newest .cab file you noted in step 4.
6. Restart your computer.
7. Test to determine if the issue is resolved, and if it is not, repeat this process, but in step 5, change to the second newest file instead of the newest file. If this does not resolve the issue, repeat this process, but in step 5, change to the third newest file.

Note that when the scanreg command with the /restore switch does not work correctly, the .cab file you are attempting to restore is damaged. If this procedure does not work correctly the first time, Microsoft recommends backing up all remaining .cab files before attempting it again.