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In this guide, you will learn what the Windows Registry is, how to access and configure it, and how to backup and restore it.
This guide covers the following:
- What is the Windows Registry?
- Access the Windows Registry Editor
- Back up the Windows Registry
- Restore the Windows Registry
- Add Keys or Values
- Examples of Modifying the Registry
- Disable Access to the Registry
What is the Windows Registry?
The Windows registry stores Windows settings, individual program settings, and other important configuration information about your PC. The registry acts like a large shared database for applications to store configuration data and to interact with other applications.
Access the Windows Registry Editor
In Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista, press the Start button, type regedit, and press Enter
In Windows XP, click Start > Run (Windows Key + R), type regedit and press Enter
The registry is made up of the following components:
- Keys
- Subkeys
- Values
To find out more about the root registry keys, check out this guide: What Do HKCR, HKCU, HKLM, HKU, and HKCC Mean? (Registry Root Keys)
Back up the Windows Registry
You may back up the entire registry, or a single key you are working on:
Back up the entire registry using System Restore
Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista
- Click Start, type systempropertiesprotection in the Start Search box, and press Enter
If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow- Wait for Windows to search for available disks and most recent restore points. Click Create
- Type a name for the restore point and then click Create
- After the restore point has been created successfully, click OK two times
Note: If System Restore is turned off, click to select the local disk, click Apply and then click Create.
Windows XP
- Click Start, click Run, type %SystemRoot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe, and click OK
- On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Create a restore point, and then click Next
- On the Create a Restore Point page, type a name for the restore point and then click Create
- After the restore point has been created, click Close
Note: If System Restore is turned off, you receive a message that asks whether you want to turn on System Restore now. Click Yes. Then, in the System Properties dialog box, click to clear the Turn off System Restore check box, click OK, and then repeat this step.
Note: This method only provides recovery capabilities if you need to perform a system restore. How to perform a system restore.
Back up the Entire Registry to a File
Note: I do not recommend restoring from a file created using this method; however, you can use this method to take a snapshot of your registry. This file can be opened in any text editor and referred to for previous values and keys you may have deleted/edited. To backup the entire registry to a file:
- Open the registry editor
- Right click Computer in the left-hand column and click Export
- Give the backup a name and save the file
Back up a Single Key
To back up a single registry key, find the key you want to back up, right click on it, and click Export
Restore the Windows Registry
You may restore the entire registry, or a single key you are working on:
Restore the Entire Registry from a System Restore Point
Note: If you elected to make a restore point to backup your registry, you can use it to revert any changes you may have made. This is the safest method; however, a system restore will roll back any Windows Updates, program installations and removals etc. that were performed since the restore point was made.
Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista
- Click Start, type systempropertiesprotection in the Start Search box, and press Enter
If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow- Wait for Windows to search for available disks and most recent restore points. Click System Restore
- Select Choose a different restore point and click Next
- Select the restore point that you want to use and click Next
- Confirm your restore point, and then click – this restores the selected Windows configuration and then restarts the computer
- Log on to your computer. When the System Restore confirmation page appears, click OK
Windows XP
- Click Start, click Run, type %SystemRoot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe, and click OK
- On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Restore my computer to an earlier time (if it is not already selected), and click Next
- On the Select a Restore Point page, click the system checkpoint. In the On this list select the restore point area, click an entry that is named “Guided Help (Registry Backup),” and click Next
If a System Restore message appears that lists configuration changes that System Restore will make, click OK- On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, click Next
System Restore restores the previous Windows XP configuration and then restarts the computer- Log on to the computer. When the System Restore confirmation page appears, click OK
Restoring a Single Key
To restore a single key:
- Find the key that you previously saved
- Double click on the file and click Yes
Add Keys or Values
In some of the tutorials on this website you will need to create a new key or value.
Add a New Key
To add a new key, do the following:
- Right click on the parent key
- Click New > Key
- Follow the guide’s instructions for what key name to assign
Add a New Value
To add a new value do the following:
- Navigate to the key that you want to add a value to
- Right click in the blank space of the right pane and click New > xx (Where xx is the value specified in the guide)
- Follow the guide’s instructions for what value to assign
Examples of Modifying the Registry
Here are some example guides that involve registry modification:
- [Fixed] Problem with Desktop Shortcuts (.lnk-files) opening in wrong program
- Change the behaviour of Windows 7 Taskbar Thumbnails [Quick Tip]
- CleanUp MsConfig Application List [How To]
- Hide Account Usernames in Windows for Extra Security [How To]
- Display more of your Most Popular Sites in IE9 [Quick Tip]
For more examples, go here: /?s=regedit
Disable Access to the Registry
If you’re using a Professional or Ultimate version of Windows, you can disable access to the Registry Editor using the Group Policy Editor.
About Rich
Rich is the owner and creator of Windows Guides; he spends his time breaking things on his PC so he can write how-to guides to fix them.
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have a recurring message when using corel photo house on vista premium , message as follows “Value not set failed to update system registry , try using reg edit ”
how does one do so without knowing the value or the key you need to place in the registry to stop this issue . The program works just annoying with this constant message after each use.
have a recurring message when using corel photo house on vista premium , message as follows “Value not set failed to update system registry , try using reg edit ”
how does one do so without knowing the value or the key you need to place in the registry to stop this issue . The program works just annoying with this constant message after each use.
have a recurring message when using corel photo house on vista premium , message as follows “Value not set failed to update system registry , try using reg edit ”
how does one do so without knowing the value or the key you need to place in the registry to stop this issue . The program works just annoying with this constant message after each use.
Andrew, have you contacted Corel customer support? I have not used Corel products before and a few Google searches didn’t help me answer your question.
Andrew, have you contacted Corel customer support? I have not used Corel products before and a few Google searches didn’t help me answer your question.
Andrew, have you contacted Corel customer support? I have not used Corel products before and a few Google searches didn’t help me answer your question.
Hi! :-)
For some reason (probably for not violating the trial restrictions), the official regedit doesn’t do a complete registry backup.
A better (at my opinion), freeware complete reg backup program, is ERUNT (from there: ).
Greets!!!
Giorgos. :-)
Hi! :-)
For some reason (probably for not violating the trial restrictions), the official regedit doesn’t do a complete registry backup.
A better (at my opinion), freeware complete reg backup program, is ERUNT (from there: ).
Greets!!!
Giorgos. :-)
Hi! :-)
For some reason (probably for not violating the trial restrictions), the official regedit doesn’t do a complete registry backup.
A better (at my opinion), freeware complete reg backup program, is ERUNT (from there: ).
Greets!!!
Giorgos. :-)
Faster shutdown registry tweak:
Go to start, type in run on the search bar when you see run
under the programs section, click it and on the box, type in
regedit. On the next box that opens, navigate to the folder:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control
and look for or make the key named
WaitToKillServiceTimeout=0500
than go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop
and set string values or make:
AutoEndTasks=1
HungAppTimeout=0500 or 0
WaitToKillAppTimeout=0500 or 0
WaitToKillServiceTimeout=0500 or 0
PowerOffActive= 1
Restart computer.
Lower time system moves applictaions in foreground
Go to start, run, regedit, and in the regedit window, go to:
HKCUControl PanelDesktop
set ForegroundLockTimeout to 0.
Faster start up tweak
We are going to tweak the prefetch on the registry editor.
Go to start, type in run on the search bar when you see run
under the programs section, click it and on the box, type in
regedit. On the next box that opens, navigate to the registry folder:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerMemory ManagementPrefetchParameters
Look for the key named EnablePrefetcher.
It has 4 different values.
0- Disable
1- Cache application
2- Cache Boot system files
3- All, Caches everything.
A cache is a temporary storage area where frequently accessed data can be stored for rapid access.
We are going to set this value to 2, so it accesses the boot files only.
Restart.
Restart again.
The second time it restarts, your computer booting time will be somewhat to a lot faster. This does not always work.
UAC(User Account Control) Registry tweak.
Click start>type in the search box regedit or if you have run type regedit>then navigate to the key named HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystemEnableLUA
Double click the key and set it to 0.
Exit the registry editor, reboot and your settings should take effect.
If you like UAC, do the same thing except set the value to 1.
————————————-
Menu Show Delay Tweak
Menu show delay registry tweak.
Start>Run type in regedit or type in regedit on the search box> click it.
In regedit navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop.
Double click on the key called MenuShowDelay and set it to however many milliseconds you want to wait bfore a menu shows. Turning it to 0 turns the delay off. Warning, it will get a little bit harder to navigate through menus by turning the delay off.
Faster shutdown registry tweak:
Go to start, type in run on the search bar when you see run
under the programs section, click it and on the box, type in
regedit. On the next box that opens, navigate to the folder:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control
and look for or make the key named
WaitToKillServiceTimeout=0500
than go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop
and set string values or make:
AutoEndTasks=1
HungAppTimeout=0500 or 0
WaitToKillAppTimeout=0500 or 0
WaitToKillServiceTimeout=0500 or 0
PowerOffActive= 1
Restart computer.
Lower time system moves applictaions in foreground
Go to start, run, regedit, and in the regedit window, go to:
HKCUControl PanelDesktop
set ForegroundLockTimeout to 0.
Faster start up tweak
We are going to tweak the prefetch on the registry editor.
Go to start, type in run on the search bar when you see run
under the programs section, click it and on the box, type in
regedit. On the next box that opens, navigate to the registry folder:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerMemory ManagementPrefetchParameters
Look for the key named EnablePrefetcher.
It has 4 different values.
0- Disable
1- Cache application
2- Cache Boot system files
3- All, Caches everything.
A cache is a temporary storage area where frequently accessed data can be stored for rapid access.
We are going to set this value to 2, so it accesses the boot files only.
Restart.
Restart again.
The second time it restarts, your computer booting time will be somewhat to a lot faster. This does not always work.
UAC(User Account Control) Registry tweak.
Click start>type in the search box regedit or if you have run type regedit>then navigate to the key named HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystemEnableLUA
Double click the key and set it to 0.
Exit the registry editor, reboot and your settings should take effect.
If you like UAC, do the same thing except set the value to 1.
————————————-
Menu Show Delay Tweak
Menu show delay registry tweak.
Start>Run type in regedit or type in regedit on the search box> click it.
In regedit navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop.
Double click on the key called MenuShowDelay and set it to however many milliseconds you want to wait bfore a menu shows. Turning it to 0 turns the delay off. Warning, it will get a little bit harder to navigate through menus by turning the delay off.
By purchasing it :)
Thanks a lot for this very useful tip!
Good info, and well presented. Surprised not more likes and comments