Back Up, Restore, Maintain the Vista Registry

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How To Back Up the Windows Vista Registry.

Before working in the registry, it is always a good idea to back it up. This article shows the different ways to back up the Registry or its Hives.

1. Best to always create a System Restore Point first. Most of the registry is backed up when you create one. I say most, because the keys that are not included are listed at

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\ControlSet001\Control\BackupRestore\KeysNotToRestore.

2. You can save or backup your Registry using Regedit in Vista:

To back it up, Click File > Export.

You can save or Backup your Registry in the following formats:
A .reg registration file,
Registry Hive Files. Saves a binary image
Text Files which can be read in Notepad
The older Win9x/NT4 format

3. Use a good 3rd party tool to Backup the Registry with a click ! ERUNT is one good freeware that I know of.

How To Restore the Registry.

1. To restore the registry from an exported hive, in LHS, select the desired key, click Files > Import on the File menu.
Mention the file. Click OK to the confirmation prompt.

2. Alternatively, you can double-click the stored .reg file in Explorer to directly add it.

3. Use a good 3rd party tool to Restore Registry with a click ! As mentioned above, ERUNT is a good freeware.

How To Maintain Windows Vista Registry.

As mentioned elsewhere, in Windows Vista, the Registry has been Virtualized, and hence unlike XP, does not tend to suffer from bloat. Nevertheless, should you wish to, you may run a Registry Clean scan using a good Registry Cleaner occasionally. Amongst freeware, CCleaner has a safe Registry Cleaner.

You may also want to use a Registry Defragmenter, once in a while. Registry Defrag and NTRegOpt are two good and safe freeware, that I know of.

These Links may Interest You:
De-Mystifying Windows Vista Registry
How To Monitor Changes In The Registry
How To Restrict or Restore Access to the Vista Registry