How to Manually Back Up & Restore the Windows Registry

Occasionally, you may need to back up and restore your Windows OS registry by hand. The following is the official Microsoft instructions for performing these critical tasks:

Instructions for manually backing up the registry in Windows 7, Windows Vista or in Windows XP

Windows Vista or Windows 7

Click Start, 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.
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,
Type a name for the restore point and then click Create.
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

Click Start, click Run, type %SystemRoot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe, and then click OK.
On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Create a restore point, and then click Next .
On the Create a Restore Point page, type a name for the restore point and then click Create
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.

Steps to restore the registry in Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP

Use System Restore to undo registry changes in Windows 7, Windows Vista or in Windows XP

Windows Vista and Windows 7

Click Start, 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.
In the System Properties dialog box, on the System Protection tab, click System Restore,
In the System Restore dialog box select Choose a different restore point, and then click Next
Select the restore point that you want to use, and then click Next.
Confirm your restore point, and then click Finish System restore restores the selected Windows Vista or Windows 7 configuration and then restarts the computer.
Log on to the computer. When the System Restore confirmation page appears, click OK..

Windows XP

Click Start, click Run, type %SystemRoot%\System32\Restore\Rstrui.exe, and then click OK.
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 .
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.
On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, click Next. System Restore restores the previous Windows XP configuration and then restarts the computer.
Log on to the computer. When the System Restore confirmation page appears, click OK..