If you are using a Windows operating system, at one point or another you may have to make some changes in the Windows registry. A lot of people might find this a bit intimidating as making the wrong changes can cause problems with your machine. This is true as making incorrect changes can potentially cause problems with your machine, but this should not stop you from learning how to deal with the wrong changes when you need to. This blog post will teach you how to backup and restore your Windows registry in the event that you make incorrect changes and have to restore the registry back to a previous state.
Prerequisites:
- Administrative rights to your machine
- It is always recommended to create a System Restore point prior to making big changes on your machine. System Restore can return your PC’s system files and programs to a time when everything was working fine. To learn more about how to create a System Restore point, please refer to the following Windows article: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/system-restore
Backing up the Windows Registry Editor
For Windows Vista, 7, or 8:
- Click the Start button in Windows Vista and 7 or bring up the Start Screen in Windows 8
- Type regedit into the search box, and then pressing the Enter key. See Figures 1 and 2 below for details. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Figure 1 Launching the Windows Registry Editor in Windows Vista / 7
Figure 2 Launching the Windows Registry Editor in Windows 8
For Windows XP:
3. Click the Start button
4. Select Run…, then type regedit in the “Open:” field followed by hitting the Enter key or clicking OK. See Figure 3 below for details.
5. Highlight Computer by clicking on it once as shown below.
6. Go to File > Export…
7. In the Export Registry File window, choose a location and name to save the registry backup file with Save as type: Registration Files (*.reg)
Note: Name the registry file to something you will later be able to identify, such as Complete Registry Backup – 10_29_2012.reg
8. Click the Save button
9. Verify whether the registry file has been created in your desired location.
Restoring a Backed Up Windows Registry
Restoring a Windows registry is as easy as backing it up. Should you come across any issues related to the registry changes you made restore your registry following the steps below:
- Locate the Registration File you exported from Step 5 above
- Double-click on the REG file to open it
- You should now be prompted with a message stating:
Adding information can unintentionally change or delete values and cause components to stop working correctly. If you do not trust the source of this information in [REG file location], do not add it to the registry.
Are you sure you want to continue?
Note: If you are importing a REG file that you did not export or one you downloaded from a source you cannot trust, please be aware that you can cause considerable damage to the operating system depending on the registry keys being changed.
4. Click the Yes button.
5. Assuming the registry keys were successfully important, you should receive the following message:
The keys and values contained in [REG file location], have been successfully added to the registry.
6. Click OK
Note: The registry keys contained in the REG file have now replaced the undesired registry. Depending on the changes that were made, you may need to restart your machine for effects to take place.
