How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

Back up the registry

Manual steps to back up the registry in Windows Vista or in Windows XP

Windows Vista

1. Click Start button, type systempropertiesprotection in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.

2. Wait for Windows to search for available disks and most recent restore points. In the System Properties dialog box, on the System Protection tab, click Create,

3. Type a name for the restore point and then click Create.

4. After the restore point has been created successfully, click OK two times.

Note If System Restore is turned off, click to select the local disk, click Apply and then click Create.

Windows XP

1. Click Start, click Run, type %SystemRoot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe, and then click OK.

2. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Create a restore point, and then click Next.

3. On the Create a Restore Point page, type a name for the restore point and then click Create

4. After the restore point has been created, click Close.

Note If System Restore is turned off, you receive a message that asks whether you want to turn on System Restore now. Click Yes. Then, in the System Properties dialog box, click to clear the Turn off System Restore check box, click OK, and then repeat this step.



Restore the registry

Manual steps to restore the registry in Windows Vista or Windows XP
Use System Restore to undo registry changes in Windows Vista or in Windows XP

Windows Vista

1. Click Start button, type systempropertiesprotection in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.

2. In the System Properties dialog box, on the System Protection tab, click System Restore,

3. In the System Restore dialog box select Choose a different restore point, and then click Next

4. Select the restore point that you want to use, and then click Next.

5. Confirm your restore point, and then click Finish System restore restores the selected Windows Vista configuration and then restarts the computer.

6. Log on to the computer. When the System Restore confirmation page appears, click OK.

Windows XP

1. Click Start, click Run, type %SystemRoot%\System32\Restore\Rstrui.exe, and then click OK.

2. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Restore my computer to an earlier time (if it is not already selected), and then click Next.

3. On the Select a Restore Point page, click the system checkpoint. In the On this list select the restore point area, click an entry that is named "Guided Help (Registry Backup)," and then click Next. If a System Restore message appears that lists configuration changes that System Restore will make, click OK.

4. On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, click Next. System Restore restores the previous Windows XP configuration and then restarts the computer.

5. Log on to the computer. When the System Restore confirmation page appears, click OK.

make restrictions to what users can do or use on their computer

If you want to make restrictions to what users can do or use on their computer without having to run Poledit, you can edit the Registry. You can add and delete Windows features in this Key shown below.

Zero is Off and the value 1 is On. Example: to Save Windows settings add or modify the value name NoSaveSettings to 0, if set to1 Windows will not save settings. And NoDeletePrinter set to 1 will prevent the user from deleting a printer.

The same key shows up at:
HKEY_USERS\(yourprofilename)\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ Explorer so change it there also if you are using different profiles.

1.Open RegEdit (start>run>regedit)
2.Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\CurrentVersion\Policies
3.Go to the Explorer Key
4.Then right click on the right side pane and select "Create Dword".

Select appropriate value name from the list given below and enter 1 for enabling the value and 0 for disabling it

NoDeletePrinter - Disables Deletion of Printers
NoAddPrinter - Disables Addition of Printers
NoRun - Disables Run Command
NoSetFolders - Removes Folders from Settings on Start Menu
NoSetTaskbar - Removes Taskbar from Settings on Start Menu
NoFind - Removes the Find Command
NoDrives - Hides Drives in My Computers
NoNetHood - Hides the Network Neighborhood
NoDesktop - Hides all icons on the Desktop
NoClose - Disables Shutdown
NoSaveSettings - Don't save settings on exit
DisableRegistryTools - Disable Registry Editing Tools
NoRecentDocsMenu - Hides the Documents shortcut at the Start button
NoRecentDocsHistory- Clears history of Documents
NoFileMenu _ Hides the Files Menu in Explorer
NoActiveDesktop - No Active Desktop
NoActiveDesktopChanges- No changes allowed
NoInternetIcon - No Internet Explorer Icon on the Desktop
NoFavoritesMenu - Hides the Favorites menu
NoChangeStartMenu _ Disables changes to the Start Menu
NoFolderOptions _ Hides the Folder Options in the Explorer
ClearRecentDocsOnExit - Empty the recent Docs folder on reboot
NoLogoff - Hides the Log Off .... in the Start Menu

And here are a few more you can play with
ShowInfoTip
NoTrayContextMenu
NoStartMenuSubFolders
NoWindowsUpdate
NoViewContextMenu
EnforceShellExtensionSecurity
LinkResolveIgnoreLinkInfo
NoDriveTypeAutoRun
NoStartBanner
NoSetActiveDesktop
EditLevel
NoNetConnectDisconnect
RestrictRun - Disables all exe programs except those listed in the RestrictRun subkey
This key has many other available keys, there is one to even hide the taskbar, one to hide the control panel and more. I'm not telling you how, as someone may want to play a trick on you. The policies key has a great deal of control over how and what program can run and how one can access what feature.

In the System key you can enter:
NoDispCPL - Disable Display Control Panel
NoDispBackgroundPage - Hide Background Page
NoDispScrSavPage - Hide Screen Saver Page
NoDispAppearancePage - Hide Appearance Page
NoDispSettingsPage - Hide Settings Page
NoSecCPL - Disable Password Control Panel
NoPwdPage - Hide Password Change Page
NoAdminPage - Hide Remote Administration Page
NoProfilePage - Hide User Profiles Page
NoDevMgrPage - Hide Device Manager Page
NoConfigPage - Hide Hardware Profiles Page
NoFileSysPage - Hide File System Button
NoVirtMemPage - Hide Virtual Memory Button

In the Network key you can enter:
NoNetSetup - Disable the Network Control Panel
NoNetSetupIDPage - Hide Identification Page
NoNetSetupSecurityPage - Hide Access Control Page
NoFileSharingControl - Disable File Sharing Controls
NoPrintSharing - Disable Print Sharing Controls

In the WinOldApp key you can enter:
Disabled - Disable MS-DOS Prompt
NoRealMode - Disables Single-Mode MS-DOS

use multiple Start Menu Columns instead of a single scrolling column

To make Windows use multiple Start Menu Columns instead of a single scrolling column (in Programs), like Windows 9x had. Also if you are using Classic Mode in XP:

1. Open RegEdit (by start>run)
2. Go to the key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer\ Advanced
3. On the right pane, right click and create a new string value StartMenuScrollPrograms
(the above string is case-sensitive)
4. Right click the new string value and select modify
5. Set the value to FALSE
6. Close RegEdit.

Quick Windows Tricks

One of the things which are never too fast is the computer speed. Everybody complains, there are a lot of programs that promise us help, but in reality, they have a very small influence, if any.
Yet, there are two things you can do in order to get rid of have the sensation of the computer moving a bit faster (I am not sure it gains some speed, but I feel like saving time by not viewing those annoying messages all the time):

1. Deactivate the suggestions given by Windows in the shape of yellow balloons

You already know those messages. You have seen them a hundred times before. They tell you that “Your local area connection is now connected” or other useful, well-known bit of info. To get rid of them, just do the following:

- click on Start, then press R to enter the run command

- type regedit in the small popup window that opened

- press Enter to execute the command

- to disable the messages for all users on the computer: double click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

- to disable messages only for your user, double click on HKEY_CURRENT_USER

- double click successively on Software, Microsoft, Windows, CurrentVersion, Explorer, Advanced

- right-click on an empty space in the lower part of the current window, then select New and DWORD value

- Type in: EnableBalloonTips and press Enter to confirm

Attention: make sure you use the upper and lower case exactly like that, otherwise it will not work
- Reboot your computer

2. Deactivate error reporting function
When you forcibly shut down an application, you get the message “Please tell Microsoft about this problem”, which you never do (at least, I never did it). If you don’t use it, you can deactivate the function like this:

- Press the keys “Windows” and Pause simultaneoulsy, in order to access System Properties.

- Click on Advanced, then on Send Error Report

- In the next window, check the option Disable error reporting, then uncheck But notify me when critical errors occur

- Click OK to close all open windows

You are ready. If you feel that your computer moves a bit faster, or if you know other useful tricks, please leave a comment here for all of us to improve our learning.