Back Up and Restore the Windows 7/Vista/XP Registry

Some guides on this site will require you to change values in your registry. If you make a mistake and don’t correct it, you may find your computer is not as functional as it was before. To protect yourself from any mistakes, you need to backup your registry. Learn how to back up and restore your registry in this guide.

This guide is written for both 7, Vista, and XP. The screenshots come from Vista, but the process is the same.

Back up the Windows registry

1. Press Start > Run (Winkey+R) and type regedit

2. Left click Computer in the left pane

3. Go to File > Export

4. Save the file (for extra caution, save the file to a USB thumb drive)

Restore the Windows registry

1. Press Start > Run (Winkey+R) and type regedit

2. Left click Computer in the left pane

3. Go to File > Import

4. Choose the backup file you created

Further Reading:

• 10 Ways To Improve Performance in Windows XP
• Xbox 360 “Newton” Motion Sensing Controller Confirmed
• Windows Guides Security and Administration Series
• Links