Fixing Corrupt Registry

If your registry has gotten corrupted, and re-installing Windows95 over your existing version does not fix the problem,

there is a hidden, read-only, system file on the root of your boot drive called SYSTEM.1ST.
This is the initial system registry created when you first installed Windows95.

To use this file:

1. Go to your Windows directory
2. Un-Attrib your current SYSTEM.DAT file (attrib -r -s -h system.dat)
3. Copy your current SYSTEM.DAT to something like SYSTEM.BAD file (just in case)
4. Move to your root directory
5. Un-Attrib the SYSTEM.1ST file
6. Copy SYSTEM.1ST to \WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT
7. Re-start your system

You will need to install your 32-bit apps and any other programs or changes that modified your system registry
but you will not need to go through a new again. Your 16-bit apps should not need to be re-installed since they do
not modify the registry. You will also retain your current desktop configuration.