How to restore Windows registry

Any corrupted entries will cause a lot of problems for your operating system. Installing unknown applications, manually editing entries, and malware infections can damage the registry. We recommend that you back up before updates or make substantial changes to your system. You can use some tools built into your computer to do this. You can also use the command line interface to avoid the hassle of navigating through the GUI. In this article we will not only talk about how to backup but also how to restore Windows registry.

How to restore the Windows registry

To manually restore registry on Windows 10, follow these steps:

1. Boot your PC with advanced startup options.
2. click on Resolution some problems.
3. click on Advanced options.
4. click on Command Prompt.
5. When the device boots into command prompt, it will boot up.X:WindowsSystem32 This means that you will now need to switch to the drive letter where Windows is installed. Although the operating system resides on the driveC:, this drive letter may change to something else when you start your computer in recovery mode. However, in most cases, the drive letter is.D:
6. As a result, type the following command to navigate to the correct drive where Windows 10 is installed and hit Enter : D:
7. Type the following command to confirm you are in the correct drive to restore the registry and press Enter : to you
8. You are in the correct drive letter if you see the Windows folder. If not, go back to step n. 5 and try another drive letter.
9. Type the following command to enter the folder System32 and press Enter : cd d:windowssystem32
10. change D in the command with the correct drive letter for your scenario.
11. Type the following command to create a folder for temporary backup files in the config folder, which also stores a copy of the registry, and press Enter : mkdir configBak
12. Type the following command to create a temporary backup of the files in the folder config and press Enter : copia config configBak
13. Type the following command to move within RegBackwhich contains a backup of the registry, and press Enter : cd configRegBack
14. Type the following command to confirm the contents of the folder RegBack and press Enter : to you
15. Type the following command to copy the files from the folder RegBack to the folder configreset the Windows 10 registry and press Enter and the key AND on each question to confirm: copy * .. *
16. Click the button Close (X) top right.
17. Once the steps are complete, your computer will restart and Windows 10 should boot successfully.

We used Windows 10 for this guide, but the concept should also work on Windows 8.1 and Windows 7.

How to backup system registry

There are a few ways to back up the registry. Usually, you can use Registry Editor for selective backups or the Task Scheduler and System Restore tool to i backup completi.

Export using the registry

There are ways to use the registry editor to back up the full registry. However, doing it and restoring from backups is somewhat complicated. You can export registry keys as REG or hive files.

Before starting

Make sure you keep these things in mind before performing these methods.

• I file REG are readable text files for exporting and importing registry keys. You can view and edit its contents via a text editor. You can directly merge these files with the registry to change its settings. You can back up the entire registry to a REG file, but you may encounter problems restoring the backup.
• The hives are database files that contain keys, subkeys and values ​​in the registry. You can only view and edit them via the registry editor. They also include the permissions associated with the registry entries. Hence, it is always better to export the entire registry as a hive.

Export as registry entries (.reg)

You can directly export registry keys or subkeys to REG files from Registry Editor. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Launch the Run tool and enter regedit to open the registry editor.
2. Navigate to any branch you want to back up.
3. click on File after selecting the branch key or right-click the key and choose Export.
4. Make sure the option Export Interval is set to the Selected branch.
5. Choose the location and name of the save file. Then click Save to create the backup.

Export as a hive file

You can find the database files for your system logs within the %windir%System32configdirectory. The log databases for user files are located in the %username%school bag.

1. Open the registry editor.
2. Navigate to the required keys in Registry Editor and select Export from the menu File.
3. Set the Save as type to Registry Hive File (“.”). Name your files according to the instructions below and choose Save. The necessary backup files and names are:

HKLMBCD00000000 as BCD-Template
HKLMDRIVERS as DRIVERS
HKLMSAM as SAM
HKLMSECURITY as SECURITY
HKLMSOFTWARE as SOFTWARE
HKLMSYSTEM as SYSTEM
HKLMCOMPONENTS as COMPONENTS
HKU.DEFAULT as DEFAULT
HKCU as NTUSER.DAT
HKCUSOFTWAREClasses as USRCLASS.DAT

The use of these names is required to overwrite the log database files when restoring these backups.

Alternative method using the command prompt

You can also use the command line interface to export registry keys and entries. You are performing the same operations as above but with the command prompt. Follow the steps below to do that:

1. Open command prompt with elevated privileges. Search for cmd on the search bar and run the command prompt as an administrator.
2. Type the command REG EXPORT “Registry key” “Filename.REG” and press enter. Substitute the respective paths accordingly in the command.

If you want to create a backup of the entire registry, you need to use the command REG SAVE. Eg, REG SAVE HKLMDrivers D:DRIVERS /y. You can replace D: with the directory path you want. Make sure you create backups for all the keys mentioned in the previous method.

System restore point creation

The System Restore tool allows you to create a snapshot of the system as a restore point. You can come back to this point at any time when your system has problems. This tool of course also backs up the registry. To create a restore point, follow these steps:

• Go up Settings> System> About.
• click on System protection from Related Settings.
• Here, click Create to start the process. Type the description you want and choose the Create option.
• Wait for the process to complete.

Use the Task Scheduler

The Scheduler allows users to plan and execute certain tasks. With this method, you can create a backup of the log files in the% windir% System32 config folder. However, it does not create a backup for the user log files. Follow these instructions to perform the registry backup task:

1. Start the Task Scheduler by typing Scheduler in the Windows search box.
2. go to Task Scheduler Library> Microsoft> Windows> Registry.
3. Here, right-click on RegIdleBackup and choose Run.

Back up the registry using third party backup software

There are some third party applications that you can use to backup the registry. These applications help avoid the hassle of manually selecting keys for creating backups. Make sure you read the reviews and user comments for the application before installing it.

Enable automatic registry backup

Windows automatically backs up the registry by default in previous versions. However, this setting must be enabled manually in newer versions. You can do this using the registry editor. Follow the steps below:

1. Open theregistry editor writing Registry Editor in the Windows search box.
2. Go to the location HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerConfiguration Manager
3. Right-click an empty area and select New> DWORD Value (32-bit).
4. Set its name as EnablePeriodicBackup and its value as 1. Double click on it to enter the value.

Restart your PC to apply the changes. Note that the interval between backups is ten days.