You can manually backup your registry if the need arises. It is a good idea to regularly perform such backups in case you don't have software for this.
Start the Windows Registry Editor
For manual edits (careful!) to a PC's registry we have regedit, the internal built in registry editor which comes with every version of windows. With regedit you can perform backups of either a small portion or the whole registry. You can then save those backups to your computer and import them back later if needed. Be aware that any manual change and modification of the registry can potentially be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing.
This is how you do it:
- Open your Start menu, select Run, type regedit, and press Enter.
- Select the File menu, and select Export.
- Enter a desired file name for the backup in the box.
- For Export range you can either select All or only a part of the registry. You can export a specific branch with Selected Branch and you can also type the name of the registry branch.
- Click Save and save the backup file.
After each import you need to reboot your computer so the newly imported/restored registry becomes active.
However, it is far more convenient and much safer to use software for such backups of the registry. Good registry tools and cleaners should always have a mandatory backup and restore function. You then simply click a button and can perform those operations without worrying. Registry Easy has a very good built in registry backup and restore function and we highly recommend it.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Thanks, didn’t know I could backup the registry like this, I thought I needed a registry cleaner for this.