There are several ways to accomplish this. Please try the following.
SOFTWARE Hive Replacement with RegBak
Warning: this fix is specific to the user in this thread. No one else should follow these instructions as it may cause more harm than good. If you are after assistance, please start a thread of your own.
- Close all open programs and save all your work. You will need to reboot the machine during this process.
- Copy the recovered SOFTWARE hive to where you previously saved a backup. It should be (C:\Windows\RegBak\PC-NAME\DATE\Windows\System32\Config)
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- Overwrite the one that is currently there when prompted.
- Open RegBak by Click Start and selecting Registry Backup and Restore. Highlight the backup in the list (it should be the only one), and press Restore.
- Click Advanced Options and uncheck everything except the Windows\System32\config\SOFTWARE hive and click OK.
- Click Start and confirm that you want to restore the selected registry hive. RegBak will reboot your computer to complete the restore process after you click OK on the informational prompt that appears.