How to merge Windows registry hives directly without converting them to an intermediate text based file?

Posted by Registrar on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Registrar
Published on 2012-10-11T00:18:15Z Indexed on 2012/10/11 3:41 UTC
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Help! I'm going to get fired if I can't figure out how to do this by tomorrow.

Microsoft Windows stores its registry databases (known as "registry hives" - there's actually a backstory to the origin of this name, but I digress) in a proprietary binary format.

Answer this correctly or you lose your job:

Let H-sub-A be the registry hive of Computer A, and let H-sub-B be the registry hive of Computer B.

Create a registry hive H-sub-A-prime (in the native binary format) that contains all of the registry keys and values in both H-sub-A and H-sub-B. If there is overlap, let the value from H-sub-B overwrite the value in H-sub-A.

Sure, you can import a text-based patch file (e.g., "FOO.REG") to modify the registry, but can you merge two registry hives in their native binary format? Answers that involve exporting the registry to a text file (e.g., "FOO.REG") will receive no credit.

You may only use software included with Microsoft Windows (any version) and / or third-party tools that are free of charge.

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