Back up and Restore the Windows Vista registry

Several of the following tips require editing the Windows Vista registry, a storehouse of settings and configuration information not usually accessible through the main Vista interface. Editing the registry can have dire consequences if the wrong values are changed, so it's always a good idea to make a backup of the registry first. This backup can be easily restored, allowing you to roll back any incorrect changes you made.

To backup the Windows Vista registry:
Open the 'start' menu and type 'regedit' in the search box. Hit Enter.

Highlight 'computer' in the left-hand pane.

Go to 'file\export'.

Choose a location on your computer to save the registry backup file. The preferable location is either on removable storage like a USB drive, or on a separate physical disk from the Windows directory, but anywhere will do in a pinch. Give it an appropriate name like 'registrybackup08'.

To import this image of the registry (and erase any changes made since), follow the first few steps above to open regedit, then go to 'file\import' and load the file you just created.