How to open the Windows registry: all the ways. Three Ways to Open Windows Registry Editor How to Create a New Registry Key

Windows Registry is a database of operating system parameters containing information and settings for all computer components: PC hardware, software, system parameters. In many cases, when working on a computer, the user needs to open the Windows registry to configure the operating system, change the settings of the OS or installed applications.

The system registry, or Windows registry, contains all the information you need to manage settings and system parameters. The state of the registry affects the normal functioning of the Windows operating system.

After making modifications to the registry settings, the configuration and settings of the system or programs installed on the computer are changed. To make changes or fix some parameters, you must enter the operating system registry. The question arises: how to open the registry editor on the computer? How do I enter the Windows Registry?

The Windows operating system has a special Registry Editor application (regedit.exe) for working with registry data. The built-in system tool, the Registry Editor program, is well suited for working with registry branches (the registry is tree-like). Individual registry files are located in different locations in the operating system. Therefore, to make changes to the system registry, you should run the Windows Registry Editor on your computer.

Note:

Changing the registry settings incorrectly or incorrectly can lead to malfunctions in the operating system. Because of this, the user will have to perform a system restore or reinstall Windows. Before editing the registry, take steps to restore the system to work in case of unsuccessful actions: make a backup copy of the registry, create a system restore point, back up the system partition.

How do I open the Registry Editor in different versions of the Windows operating system? There are several universal ways to enter the Windows Registry Editor in the same way in all versions of the operating system. In this article, we will further analyze how to enter the Windows 10 registry, how to enter the Windows 8.1 (Windows 8) registry, how to open the Windows 7 registry editor, for each system.

You can open the registry editor in Windows in the same way for different versions of the operating system using 5 methods:

login using the Run dialog box
launching the "regedit" file from the "Windows" folder in Explorer
open using command line or Windows PowerShell
find an application by searching on the taskbar or from the start menu
launching the registry editor using a previously created shortcut

First, we will consider the universal methods applicable to different versions of Windows, and then we will look separately at additional methods for Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7.

How to enter the system registry from the "Run" dialog box

Using the Run dialog box to launch the Registry Editor works in all modern versions of the operating system: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP.

In the Windows operating system, do the following:

Press simultaneously on the keyboard on the keys "Win" + "R".
In the "Run" window in the "Open" field, enter the expression: "regedit" (without quotes), and then click on the "OK" button.

After that, the Registry Editor application window will open on the computer.

How to enter the registry on a computer from the Windows folder

Another way to enter Registry Editor is to launch the application directly from the Windows system folder on your computer. This method can be used in Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP.

The only caveat: you need to be careful in your actions, since you will enter the folder with the operating system. Be careful in your actions.

Follow these sequential steps:

Open File Explorer on your computer.
Enter the "C:" drive, open the "Windows" folder.
Find and then double-click the left mouse button on the "regedit" application.

The system Registry Editor will open on your computer.

How to open the registry using the command line

You can start the registry editor from the command line.

Do the following:

Run Command Prompt as Administrator.
In the command line interpreter window, enter: "regedit" (without quotes), and then press the "Enter" key.

How to enter the Registry Editor using Windows PowerShell

Registry Editor is launched from Windows PowerShell in a similar way:

Run Windows PowerShell as administrator.
In the PowerShell window, type: "regedit" (without quotes), and then press "Enter".

Create a shortcut to launch Windows Registry Editor

If the user is not ready to take several steps each time to launch the system application, this task can be made easier. To do this, you need to create a shortcut with which the registry editor will be launched on the computer.

Follow the sequential steps:

Start the file manager Windows Explorer.
Open Local drive "C:".
Enter the Windows folder.
Find the "regedit" application, right click on it.
In the context menu, first select "Send" and then "Desktop (create shortcut)".
A shortcut to launch the Registry Editor system tool will appear on the computer desktop.

Now, you can easily open the registry editor by double-clicking the left mouse button on the application shortcut.

How to open the registry in Windows 10

Let's see how to enter the Windows 10 registry in a different way using search. We will first find the application on the computer and then we will run the system tool.

To open Registry Editor in Windows 10, do the following:

On the Taskbar, click on the search icon, or left-click on the "Start" menu.
Enter the expression on the keyboard: "regedit" (without quotes), and then run the command.

Windows 10 Registry Editor is open and ready to make changes to the appropriate keys.

How to enter the Windows 8.1 registry (Windows 8)

Windows 8.1 (original version) and Windows 8 do not have a Start menu, so some users find it difficult to find the application they want on their PC.

Windows 8.1 Update 1 has a built-in Start menu, so you can run the search for Registry Editor on your computer in this way:

Click the right mouse button on the "Start" menu.
Select "Find".
In the Search box, enter “regedit” (without the quotes).
Run the application.

Another generic method for Windows 8.1 and Windows 8:

Move your mouse cursor down from the top right edge of the screen.
In the sidebar that opens, click on the "Search" icon.
In the search box, enter the expression: "regedit".
Run the command.

As a result, the Windows 8.1 Registry Editor (Windows 8) will start on the computer.

How to open the registry in Windows 7

Now we will try to enter the Windows 7 registry. In addition to the universal methods described above, there is one more way to enter the registry editor.

In the Windows 7 operating system, do the following to open the Registry Editor:

Enter the Start Menu.
In the Find files and programs box, enter “regedit” (without the quotes).
Start the Registry Editor application.

Conclusion

If necessary, the user can enter the Windows Registry Editor to make changes to the system registry settings. You can enter the Windows Registry in several ways: using the Run dialog box, launching a system tool from a previously created application shortcut, opening the registry editor at the command prompt or entering Windows PowerShell, launching an application from the Windows system folder, searching for and launching the editor registry in different versions of the operating system.

To start changing the registry, press the Win + R keys and enter the command regedit

Lock the right Charms Bar

When you move the mouse cursor to the lower right or upper corner of the monitor, a panel pops up Charms bar... This is not always convenient, especially if this panel is not needed at the moment. To lock the panel, open the registry editor and find the section

For more information, see DisableCharmsHint and assign a value to it 1

Lock the left panel Switcher

To lock the left pane in the same section

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ ImmersiveShell \ EdgeUI

create a DWORD parameter named DisableTLcorner and assign the value 1 .

To bring back the panel on hover, change the parameter value to 0

Disable Windows 8 lock screen

The lock screen in Windows 8 is a Metro interface that appears when you boot your computer or wake up from hibernation. To disable the lock screen, open the registry editor and in the section

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Windows \

creating a section Personalization. In chapter Personalization create a DWORD parameter named NoLockScreen and assign the value 1

Speed up the launch of applications from startup Windows 8

In Windows 8, the launch of applications from startup does not occur immediately, but after the Metro interface and its components are loaded. You cannot remove this pause at all, but you can reduce the loading time. We open the registry editor and in the section

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer

creating a section Serialize In this section, create DWORD parameters with the name StartupDelayInMSec and a value equal to 0

Changes will take effect after reboot

In my articles, tips and notes, I often refer the reader to the Windows Registry Editor. Many of them involve intensive work with registry keys and values. I suddenly realized that not all of my readers got their hands on when working with this program, and some had never started the Registry Editor at all. So I decided to write a small tutorial on this program.

Table of contents:

What is Registry Editor

Registry Editor has historically been created as a tool for users who need to change Windows settings that are not visible in the user interface. The main function of this program is to view and change settings in the system registry, that is, a set of special binary files that contain information about the Windows configuration and about almost all programs that are installed on your computer. Windows OS and many programs (with the exception of those that are so-called "portable", portable, in other words, do not require installation) store their settings in the registry.

How to start Registry Editor

Method 1
Regardless of the version of Windows installed on your computer, this method will work:

Method 2
The Registry Editor executable is located in C: \ Windows, which means you can open that folder in Explorer and click to launch regedit.exe.

Alternatively, you can create a shortcut to Regedit.exe and place it in the Start Menu / Windows 8.x Application List, in the folder

% ProgramData% \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Start Menu \ Programs

This will make Registry Editor visible in Windows search results, and will also allow you to launch the application with a single mouse click.

General view of the Registry Editor

The Registry Editor looks like this:

As you can see in the picture above, it consists of two panels:

the left one displays a hierarchical view of the data structure, it is called partitions (or keys);
the right panel displays options... They are name = data pairs and are stored inside keys.

What Registry Editor Shows

As I mentioned above, the editor shows us the sections and options.

Sections are a virtual representation of data from several files that form registry database... You can see exactly which files represent the registry on your computer if you go to this section here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ hivelist

Here you can see a list of files on your hard drive that store registry data. The data within them, as mentioned above, have a hierarchical structure, and the registry editor shows them in the form of a "tree". The roots of a tree (master keys) generally represent a specific file, the data of which is accessed.

However, there are also virtual keys that appear in the registry editor as regular files, but in fact are a representation of several files or even separate registry branches. They usually exist for backward compatibility. For example, HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG is a virtual view, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT is also a virtual view that combines the current user's registry keys and system keys.

Note that some registry files do not appear in the Registry Editor window. For example, you will never see what is stored inside the SAM (Security Accounts Manager) file. In the registry editor, it is represented by the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SAM \ SAM branch and is supposedly empty there. This is for security reasons.

Registry parameters used by Windows OS and many third-party applications to store various configuration parameters and part of user data. Parameter values come in various types, but in general they are text values / strings, numeric values, or binary values.

How to create a new registry key

To create a new key, right-click on the parent section in the left pane and select the command Create -> Section from the context menu.

You must give the created section a name according to the requirements of the program for which you are creating it.

How to create a new parameter

To create a new parameter, you need to right-click

on the current section on the left
or
in an empty space in the right pane.

Select the appropriate type for the new parameter and enter its name. Double click on the parameter name to set its value.

How to take ownership of a section and get full access to it

Just as the concepts of "permissions" and "owner" apply to files and folders in the NTFS file system, they also exist for registry keys. From the era of Windows Vista to the present day, most of the registry keys that store OS settings are protected by access restrictions so that they cannot be easily deleted or changed by the user. Sometimes you may need to change the data in such sections, and for this you need to be able to change the owner of the section and get full access to it. This is pretty easy to do.

How to restore TrustedInstaller as partition owner

Almost all system registry keys in Windows Vista, 7 and 8 have the TrustedInstaller account as their owner. After editing partition permissions, you need to return ownership of this account, otherwise the operating system may not work correctly. To restore the TrustedInstaller property in Windows Vista, 7 and 8, enter NT Service \ TrustedInstaller in the Enter the object names to select box. Click OK.

How to change permissions on a registry key

After changing the owner of a registry key, you almost always have to change the permissions, otherwise you will not be able to change the parameter values. To do this, you must switch to the Permissions tab in the Advanced Security Settings dialog box.

Subsections can have so-called inherited permissions from its parent section. Alternatively, subkeys can also have explicit access rights other than the parent key.

In the first case, that is, if permissions are inherited from the parent key, you must disable inheritance and copy the parent section's permissions to the current key in order to be able to change them. To do this in Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP, uncheck the "Add inherited permissions from parent objects" checkbox and click the "Add" button in the confirmation dialog box.

After disabling inheritance, select the appropriate user account and click the button Change to change access rights.

Windows 8 has a dedicated button to disable inheritance:

Permissions can be set in two ways: after disabling inheritance, you can set them only on the current key, or you can set permissions for the current key, and then apply them to all of its subsections. To do this, check the box Replace all child object permission entries with inherited from this object... This action will expose the permissions you specify down the key hierarchy for all subkeys.

Registry Editor Command Line Keys

Go to the desired registry key with one click

Option number 1

Some time ago I created the RegOwnershipEx utility that allows you to get full access to a registry key with one click. In addition, it allows you to navigate to the desired registry key. I recommend that you familiarize yourself with it.

RegOwnershipEx allows the following:

take ownership and full access to the selected registry key. There is a registry browsing window for easy key selection.
favorites - for quick access to your favorite registry keys. It is integrated with the Favorites menu of the Registry Editor.
restore the access and owner rights that you changed earlier. those. the program allows you to return the rights to their original state.
function "open in regedit" - you can open the selected key in the registry editor. This is a very handy option to quickly jump to a section by simply copying its name.
shortcuts for root partitions - you can use HKCU instead of HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKLM instead of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, and so on.
getting the registry path from the Windows clipboard.
command line argument "/ j" to extract the path to the registry key from the Windows clipboard and quickly go to the registry editor.

All this is damn convenient!

Option 2

I sketched out a simple script that will get the contents of the clipboard, write it to the registry, and open the registry editor. The following scenario is assumed: You are reading an article, it says - "go to the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion". You select the path to the section, press CTRL + C and run the script. Registry Editor opens in the desired location. ...

The registry is a large database that stores all the parameters necessary for the normal operation of the operating system. You can view it through the registry editor, which is available in Windows. Any user can enter it if his account has administrator rights.

And if you made any changes, or the computer turned off by itself, for various reasons, or you accidentally pressed the wrong key and deleted a parameter or a whole registry branch, then this may not have the best effect on the computer's operation.

And yet, if this happened, let's figure out what are the ways to restore the Windows 7 and Windows 8 registry for normal computer operation.

Using a backup

As you probably guessed, this method is not for everyone. If you previously created backup copies of the registry through "File" - "Export" - read on, if not - go to the next method.

So, you have a backup copy. Press the combination Win + R, the "Run" window will open. In the "Open" field, write regedit and click "OK".

The Registry Editor window should appear. In it, go to the "File" tab and select "Import" from the menu.

An explorer will open, find the previously created backup in it and click "Open".

Wait for the files to be copied.

Using System Restore

System restore can be done using restore checkpoints. You could create them earlier, when the system was stable and you were satisfied with everything. Or they could be created automatically by the system: when making changes to the computer configuration, before installing drivers, and so on.

Consider first, how to restore the registry if the operating system boots... In Windows 7 go to "Start" - "Control Panel".

Here we are interested in the item "Recovery".

In the next window, click "Start System Restore".

Now you need to select a restore point. If there are several points, and you are in doubt, look at the date the point was created - did your computer work normally on these numbers ?! - choose her. By clicking Find Affected Programs, you can see which programs will be removed as a result of recovery. Click "Next".

We confirm the rollback of the system to the selected state by clicking "Finish".

All data, including the registry, will correspond to the state that was at the time of the creation of the selected restore point.

If you have Windows 8 installed on your computer, read the article: Windows 8 restore point and system rollback. There you will be interested in the second part. The actions will need to be performed the same as described above.

If the OS won't start

Repair the registry if the computer does not turn on you can too. In the Windows 7 operating system, when the computer boots up, press the F8 button at intervals of 1 second. A window will appear "Additional download options"... In it, use the arrows to select the item "Troubleshooting computer problems".

In the next window, select your language and click Next.

Select your account, it is better to have administrator rights, then enter the password, if you have it set when you log in, and click "OK".

The following window should appear, select the item "System Restore".

A recovery window will open, click "Next" in it and repeat the steps described in the paragraph above.

If you have Windows 8 installed on your computer, then you can press F8 or Shift + F8 when booting, but the window for additional download options is unlikely to appear. It is best to use a system recovery disc or a bootable USB flash drive. You can create them on any other computer with Windows 8 installed.

Follow the link and read the article on how to repair Windows 8. Everything is described in detail there. The following window should appear. Then follow the path: "Diagnostics" - "System Restore", and select the desired restore point.

Through the command line

In Windows, the files that are responsible for the operation of the registry are stored in the following path: C: (your system drive letter) / Windows / System32 / config. There is also the RegBack folder, which stores backup copies of all registry branches. They are updated by the system automatically, depending on the settings, every 5-10 days.

We need to do the following: delete the DEFAULT, SAM, SECURITY, SYSTEM, SOFTWARE files that are in the config folder and replace them with similar files from the RegBack folder.

We will not be able to do this in the operating system, since it will be necessary to replace the files responsible for its operation. Therefore, you need to use additional boot parameters and open a command prompt.

In Windows 7, press F8 when booting the system. Then you need to do everything as described in the paragraph above. In the window System Recovery Options, select item "Command line"... As a result, the command line will be launched as administrator.

In Windows 8, you can open the command prompt using the combination. This is detailed in the article: Windows 8 Safe Mode. Read the point: go to safe mode using the combination Shift + restart. When the following window appears, select "Command line".

If the computer does not turn on at all, due to changes in the registry, then read the paragraph: go to safe mode using a system recovery disk (you can create it on any computer with Windows 8 installed).

So, we launched the command line. Now we enter the following commands line by line there. Press Enter at the end of each line. First, let's create a badreg folder on the system drive, copy all the files of our non-working registry into it. Then we can safely delete the DEFAULT, SAM, SECURITY, SYSTEM, SOFTWARE files from the config folder, because we have copies of them. Finally, copy the backups from the regback folder to the config folder.

MD c: \ badreg
copy c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \ default c: \ badreg
copy c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \ sam c: \ badreg
copy c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \ system c: \ badreg
copy c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \ security c: \ badreg
copy c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \ software c: \ badreg

delete c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \ default
delete c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \ sam
delete c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \ system
delete c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \ security
delete c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \ software

copy c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \ regback \ default c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \
copy c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \ regback \ sam c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \
copy c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \ regback \ system c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \
copy c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \ regback \ security c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \
copy c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \ regback \ software c: \ windows \ system32 \ config \
exit

After you enter the exit command, the command prompt window will close and the computer will reboot.

I hope one of the ways will help you restore the registry in the Windows 7 or 8 operating system.

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Ways to open the registry editor in Windows 8

The first method uses search. Click "start", then you will be taken to the home screen. In this area, move all the way to the right, then click the magnifying glass icon, which is located near the power control (shutdown) button.

Note: You do not need to go to the start screen, just press Win + W where you are now.

You will see a panel with a search form, where you will need to enter regedit.exe. After successful entry, click the Enter key or select Registry Editor from the list that appears below.

If you see a UAC window click "yes". Thus, you will be able to enter the registry on Windows 8.

In order not to enter the name of the editor file each time, I propose to move the shortcut of the regedit file to visible places. While entering the file name, when regedit appears in the list, right-click on it and select one of the following:

Dock to Start Screen - Windows 8 Registry Editor is docked as a tile to the work area of the start screen.
Pin to taskbar - The most productive of the two, a registry shortcut is placed on the taskbar.

The second method is to click on the context menu item. Windows 7 does not provide this feature, so in the previous article we added this item manually. On an empty space on the desktop, right-click. In the open menu, select the item called "Registry Editor".

In the third way it is necessary. This is done with the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut, after which the familiar regedit.exe construction is entered into the line, then Enter or OK is pressed.

After completing 1 of 3 recommendations, you can enter the Windows 8 registry in a convenient way for you. All the described recommendations can be used equally, and there is no clear leader. Sometimes a picture emerges that after trying all the steps, the Windows 8 registry editor does not open, showing an error, which, follow the link to fix the problem.

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