Backing up the system registry remotely

[Shooter]

I realized while in the middle of creating my current project that I have a need to backup the entire system registry in Windows XP, but I need to do it from the server to every computer on the network (typically between 6-12 computers per remote LAN site). Has anyone ever tackled this from an Assembly Language position before? Just how involved of a project do you think it might be? If anyone has some code that's already been written, I'd love to get my hands on it. I'm really concerned about seeking out the computers attached in a DHCP setup, and especially the Permissions, than anything else.

Note: I've never done any Server Specific programming before, but I know from backing up the registry (using Regedit 5.0) FROM the MS Server 2000 & 2003 (after Connecting Remote Registry), it takes a very long time, and even then not all the HKEYs or subkeys are backed-up.

Thanks,
-Shooter

[Vortex]

Hi Shooter,

You need to use the Volume Shadow Copy Service to copy registry files as they are used by the OS.

Using my vscopy tool, I can create a shadow copy and transfer the files to a network share :

Code Select Expand

vscopy.exe C: V: BackupRegistry.bat

BackupRegistry.bat :

Code Select Expand


xcopy V:\WINDOWS\system32\config\*.* \\server\backup /Y

xcopy "V:\Documents and Settings\Vortex\NTUSER.DAT" \\server\backup /H /Y


V: is the symbol of the volume shadow copy ( VSC ) You can assign other letters to refer to the VSC.

You can create scheduled tasks on your computers to run the batch file above.

The alternatives are running system state backup ( which contains the registry ) or using free \ commercial backup tools.

[Shooter]

Will VScopy automatically sniff out all the computers currently logged onto the server and back them up? I won't have immediate access to each computer's registered name and location of where the registry files are located upon job arrival. I'll need to sniff out all the computers, hopefully in one whack, and start performing the backup before upgrading them with the software I've written (or rather collaborated on the software with others from this forum  :wink).

-Shooter

[Vortex]

Hi Shooter,

All what you need to do is to copy the necessary exe and bat files to every client and then configure the scheduled tasks. A tool to access remotely computers is Mark Russinovich's PsExec tool :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897553

The tool operates like a telnet client and you can control your computers remotely. Don't forget to run the scheduled batch file under an account having access to your server.

[Shooter]

All what you need to do is to copy the necessary exe and bat files to every client and then configure the scheduled tasks. A tool to access remotely computers is Mark Russinovich's PsExec tool :

Unfortunately, I need to do all of this work from the server, not the workstation.

[Vortex]

Hi Shooter,

Can you try this tool?

EMCO Remote Registry Exporter

http://www.emco.is/products/remote-registry-exporter/features.php

[Shooter]

EMCO Remote Registry Exporter

http://www.emco.is/products/remote-registry-exporter/features.php

Vortex, That one seems promising. I was hoping to develop a program that would be integrated with some of the other stuff I'm trying to do, but this is at least a start.  :U

-Shooter