: Double-click the new entry and change its value to 1 .
| Cause | Explanation | |-------|-------------| | | Starting Windows 10 version 1803, Microsoft changed RegBack: hives are no longer backed up to RegBack by default (Task Scheduler disabled). Existing files may be placeholders or empty. | | Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) misuse | If you copy directly while registry is in use, you get locked files. Copying via reg save command is required, not file copy. | | NTFS permissions | SYSTEM has full control; even Administrators may not have read access by default to copy live hives. | | Corrupt registry backup task | The RegIdleBackup task fails silently; last write times on RegBack files show months/years old. | | Antivirus / real-time protection | Some security software blocks read access to registry hives as anti-tampering. | regback copy not working
: This is Microsoft's recommended replacement for registry backups. Boot into the Advanced Startup menu (WinRE). Troubleshoot Advanced options System Restore : Double-click the new entry and change its value to 1
If you have tried to use the regback command (specifically reg.exe backup ) or the legacy "Backup Registry" function in Windows, you may have encountered a frustrating issue: the command runs, but the backup folder is empty, or you receive an error stating that the "backup copy is not working." | | Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) misuse |
Those zero-byte files weren’t corrupt—they were just placeholders. The actual backups were stored in VSS snapshots.
As mentioned, from Windows 10 1803 onward, the default behavior was changed. The registry key: