A Note Before Modifying Your Windows Registry

Typically, prefaced before anything which requires you to make a change to your Windows Registry, you see a warning which basically says “be careful because if you do something wrong you can mess up your system”. This is absolutely true.

Whenever you make a change to your registry, you should create a backup first. You can do a full registry backup by using System Restore, but in most cases a simple key backup is good enough. This is done easily inside of RegEdit:

  1. Select the key (folder) where you are making changes in the registry from the left side.
  2. Select File > Export.
  3. In the dialog, just enter a file name which is descriptive of the key you are exporting. You can also confirm the location is correct at the bottom of the dialog (Selected Branch).
  4. Confirm the REG file saved correctly.

That’s it. Now if you need to undo your change you can simply import the file you just created. This is a simple and effective way to help recover simple mistakes if you are dealing with the registry.

Of couse, this method is not 100% fool-proof. For example, if you modify a system value and reboot your system, this method may not be an ample recovery model. However, for minor system tweaks it should be sufficient.

Free eBook!

Like what you read?

If so, please join over 28,000 people who receive our exclusive weekly newsletter and computer tips, and get FREE COPIES of 5 eBooks we created, as our gift to you for subscribing. Just enter your name and email below:

Post A Comment Using Facebook

  • http://www.pcmech.com/article/a-note-before-modifying-your-windows-registry/ Bud

    What is your opinion of the “Free” Registry Cleaners which are not free of course since maybe 15 of the errors can be deleted while the other 500 errors cannot be until one enrolls in the “pay” version. Are these reliable? Many of them would be very confusing when decisions are given to the user. The explanations are usually way above the heads of most computer operators.

    • Jason Faulkner

      Personally, I don’t like these kinds of programs. Modifying the registry manually I will do because I know _exactly_ what I am doing.

      Programs which attempt to detect and repair errors can seriously mess up your system. Granted the odds of this are probably remote, I still avoid them. The reward of a potential few blinks of an eye in performance gain are not worth the risk of seriously messing up your system.

      • Sharron Field

        For my part I have used Uniblue Registry Booster without any problems for a while several years ago. Lately I’ve been using PC Pitstop Optimize, which is advertised on this site somewhere I recently saw, and it too is very effective.

  • http://www.best-registrycleaner.net registrycleaner

    I would like to recommend to everyone. Registry cleaner for fix registry errors in windows operating system. This registry cleaner would really be helpful for those who are using a windows operating system.

What’s Your Preference?

Daily Alerts

Each day we send out a quick email to thousands of PCMECH readers to notify them of new posts. This email is just a short, plain email with titles and links to our latest posts. You can unsubscribe from this service at any time.

You can subscribe to it by leaving your email address in the following field and confirming your subscription when you get an email asking you to do so.

Enter your email address for
Daily Updates:

Weekly Newsletter

Running for over 6 years, the PCMECH weekly newsletter helps you keep tabs on the world of tech. Each issue includes news bits, an article, an exclusive rant as well as a download of the week. This newsletter is subscribed to by over 28,000 readers (many who also subscribe to the other option) - come join the community!

To subscribe to this weekly newsletter simply add your email address to the following field and then follow the confirmation prompts. You will be able to unsubscribe at any time.

Enter your email address for
Free Weekly Newsletter: