Creating Registry Entries for Applications

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 with SP1

Some applications save configuration information in the Windows registry. If the setup program or provisioning script creates the registry entries, run the setup program or provisioning script on the target server. Otherwise, you must manually identify the registry entries and then re-create them on the target server.

Warning

Do not edit the registry unless you have no alternative. The registry editor bypasses standard safeguards, allowing settings that can damage your system, or even require you to reinstall Windows. If you must edit the registry, back it up first and then use the Registry Reference directly or connect to it on the Web at https://www.microsoft.com/reskit.

Create application registry entries on the target server manually by completing the following steps:

  1. Identify the registry entries required by the applications that are currently running on the source server.

    Earlier in the migration process, you identified the registry entries required by the applications on the source server. For more information about identifying registry entries, see Identifying Which Web Site and Application Components to Migrate earlier in this section.

  2. Back up the registry entries on the source server that you identified in the previous step by using the registry editor Regedit.exe.

    For more information about backing up copies of registry entries, see Back Up and Restore Registry Entries.

  3. Copy the .reg backup file, created in Step 2, to the target server.

  4. Modify the .reg backup file created in the previous step to accommodate for changes in disk volume letters, such a F:, or paths to folders by completing the following steps:

    1. In Notepad, open the .reg backup file created in Step 2.

    2. Search for specific references to disk volume letters or paths that you want to change, and update them to reflect the disk volume letters or paths on the target server.

    3. Save the .reg file.

  5. Restore the registry backup on the target server.

    For more information about restoring registry entries, see Back Up and Restore Registry Entries.