How to refine your Windows Registry

Before you start
Before venturing any further, it’s important to point out that editing the Registry can, in extreme cases, damage your Windows installation. Accidentally change the wrong setting and your PC may become inoperable.

So be sure to have a full system backup in place, so things can be brought back to normal should the worst happen. Create a System Restore point and back up valuable data before editing anything.

If you’re just starting out and don’t know how to back up your PC then this really isn’t the kind of feature for you. It’s also worth noting that when editing the Registry, there is no ‘undo’ feature and any changes are made immediately. See below for information on how to create a Registry backup.

It is possible to work safely with the Registry. We will explain later how to back up the Registry itself ­ something that even novices might want to try, just in case the Registry ever gets corrupted.

Hello, Regedit
To start working with the Registry, you can launch the Windows Registry Editor, Regedit, in several ways. In all cases you will need to be logged on with administrator privileges.

In Vista, click Start, type regedit and select the entry from the list that is displayed. In XP, click Start, choose Run and type regedit in the dialogue b ox and click OK. Alternatively, in either operating system hold down the Windows key and tap R simultaneously before typing regedit and pressing Enter.

In Vista it may be necessary to click Continue at the User Account Control box, if this is displayed. Once the Registry Editor has loaded, the similarity to Windows Explorer should be immediately apparent.

The various components of the Registry are displayed in a tree-like structure in the left-hand panel, much like Explorer’s folder display, while additional content is displayed in the right-hand window.

Key to the Registry
The terminology surrounding the Registry can be confusing, so it’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with a number of key terms before proceeding.

There are five main entries in the left-hand panel. These are referred to as hives and each is concerned with the storage of different types of settings. The HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT hive is mainly used to store information about file associations, and HKEY_CURRENT_USER holds the settings of the user currently logged in to Windows.