Editing the Registry
These tips
may contain information about editing
the registry. You should not edit your
registry unless it is absolutely
necessary. If there is an error in your
registry, your computer may not function
properly. If this happens, you can
restore the registry to the same version
you were using when you last
successfully started your computer.
Incorrectly editing the registry may
severely damage your system. Before
making changes to the registry, you
should back up any valued data on your
computer.
The
following list provides some best
practices for using the registry and
Registry Editor safely:
-
Before
making changes to the registry, make
a backup copy. You can back up the
registry by using a program such as
Backup. After you make changes to
the registry, create an Automated
System Recovery (ASR) disk. For
troubleshooting purposes, keep a
list of the changes you make to the
registry.
-
Do not
replace the Windows registry with
the registry of another version of
the Windows or Windows NT operating
systems.
-
Use
tools and programs other than
Registry Editor to edit the
registry. Incorrectly editing the
registry may severely damage your
system. You should use tools and
programs that provide safer methods
for editing the registry.
-
Never
leave Registry Editor running
unattended.
If the key
or value you're about to edit has no
critical influence on the OS, you can
simply save the portion of registry that
you're working on, and avoid backing up
the whole system state.
To export
a registry key to a hive file:
-
Open
Registry Editor.
-
Select
the key that you want to save as a
file.
-
On the
File menu, click Export.
-
In the
Export Registry File dialog box, in
Save in, click the drive, folder, or
network computer and folder where
you want to save the hive.
-
In
File name, enter a name for the
hive.
-
In
Save as type, click Registry Hive
Files.
-
Click
Save.
You must
be logged on as an administrator or a
member of the Administrators group in
order to complete this procedure. If
your computer is connected to a network,
network policy settings may also prevent
you from completing this procedure.
You can
use a text editor like Notepad to work
with the registry files you create by
exporting.
You can
save registry files in the Windows
format, in the format used in Windows
95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0, as
binary hive files, or as text files.
Registry files are saved with .reg
extensions, and text files are saved
with .txt extensions.
In Windows
Explorer, double-clicking a file with
the .reg extension imports the file into
the computer's registry.
If you
want, you can later import the saved
registry file back to your registry (or
to another computer running the same
OS).
To import
a registry key from a hive file:
-
Open
Registry Editor.
-
Select
the keys in which you want to
restore the hive.
-
On the
File menu, click Import.
-
In
Look in, select the drive, folder,
or network computer and folder in
which the hive is located.
-
In
Files of type, click Registry Hive
Files.
-
Select
the correct file name for the hive.
-
Click
Open.
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