THE ROLLBACK.EXE TOOL

The information in this article applies to:
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0

SUMMARY

The Windows NT 4.0 Server and Workstation compact discs include a utility called Rollback.exe. Rollback.exe was designed to help computer manufacturers preinstall Windows NT 4.0, and allow end-users to do the final configuration according to the desired role of the computer. Running this utility will remove all registry settings on a system and bring it back to the end of the Character Based Setup portion of the Setup program, effectively undoing everything configured by the GUI portion of Windows NT Setup.

WARNING: Do not run this file on a production system! There is no way to recover information erased by running this utility, so anything stored in the registry will be lost. This includes user account information, protocol bindings, application settings, user preferences, etc.

MORE INFORMATION

If you run Rollback.exe on a production system there is no warning that Rollback.exe removes all system registry entries. Therfore, after you run Rollback.exe there is no system to rescue or to restore as the registry and the Setup.log file no longer exist.

The only fix to this problem is to restore the entire system from a current tape back up. Emergency Repair Disk does not restore the system as it requires the Setup.log and specific registry components to be present.

Rollback.exe is on the Windows NT compact discs in the following directory:
support\deptools\<system>\

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KBCategory: kbsetup
KBSubcategory: ntsetup ntsrvwkst
Additional reference words: prodnt 4.00 Rollback boot registry ERD