Many novice users are wondering how to enter Windows registry 10, 8, 7 or XP. No matter how much you go through the Start menu items, you can’t find a shortcut to the registry in it! How to open the registry in Windows?

The fact is that any rash change in the registry can lead to disastrous consequences for your computer. To prevent inexperienced users from getting into trouble, access to the registry has been hidden.

Make a promise to yourself that you will not make rash changes to the registry in order to do not harm your computer!

Details about what is a registry how it works, and how it can be used, can be found in.

For any Windows versions There are several ways to launch a program in which you can change registry settings (it's called " registry editor»).

Let's start with the latest Windows 10, and consider two options for accessing the registry.

Launching the Registry Editor - Method 1 for Windows 10

  1. Click the "Start" button with the left mouse button (or the "Windows" key on the keyboard);
  2. When the Start menu opens, type " regedit" (without quotes);
  3. At the top of the search menu, under the inscription "Best match", the item "REGEDIT - Run command" will appear, click on this item with the left mouse button;
  4. If a confirmation window for starting the registry editor appears, click "Yes";

You will see the "Registry Editor" window, in which you can make changes to the registry itself.

Launching the Registry Editor in Windows 10

Launching the Registry Editor - Method 2 for Windows 10

  1. Click the Start button with the right mouse button (or the keyboard shortcut Win + X);
  2. In the menu that appears, select the "Run" item (these two steps can be replaced with one Win + R key combination);
  3. In the Run window that appears, type regedit" (without quotes) and click the "OK" button;
  4. In the launch confirmation window, click "Yes";

The "Registry Editor" window will appear, and you can proceed to make changes.

You can clearly see how to enter the Windows 10 registry in this video:

How to open the registry in Windows 8/8.1

To launch the registry editor in Windows 8, you need to follow the same steps as in Windows 10, if you have version 8 and not 8.1, then you don’t have a Start button, so in the first step of the first method, press the Windows key and then follow the instructions above.

Detailed video instruction on how to enter the Windows 8 (8.1) Registry Editor:

How to open the registry in Windows 7

To open the Registry Editor in Windows 7, you need to follow similar steps:

Launching the Registry Editor - Method 1 for Windows 7

  1. Type command " regedit" (without quotes);
  2. Click at the top of the menu, under the inscription "Programs" on the inscription " regedit»;
  3. Select “Yes” to the prompt to confirm the launch.

Launching the Registry Editor - Method 2 for Windows 7

  1. Press the key combination Win + R on the keyboard (hold down Windows key and, without releasing it, press the R key);
  2. In the "Run" window, type the command " regedit
  3. Confirm the launch of the registry editor with the "Yes" button.

Both ways to enter the Windows 7 registry editor can be seen in this video:

How to open the registry in Windows XP

In Windows XP, opening the Registry Editor is slightly different:

Launching the Registry Editor - Method 1 for Windows XP

  1. Click on "Start" with the left mouse button;
  2. In the right column, find the item "Run" (both steps can be replaced with a combination of Win + R)
  3. In the window "Start the program" write the command " regedit” (without quotes) and click the “OK” button;

Launching the Registry Editor in Windows XP

Launching the Registry Editor - Method 2 for Windows XP (and not only)

  1. Open File Explorer (you can use the keyboard shortcut Win + X);
  2. Go to drive "C:";
  3. Open the Windows folder;
  4. Find the "regedit" file and run it.

And, of course, a video version of opening the registry editor in Windows XP:

The second method is suitable for all listed versions of Windows. Moreover, you can cheat a little:

Once you get to the "regedit" file, you can create a desktop shortcut and greatly simplify access to the Registry Editor in the future.

You can find out more about what a registry is and how it works.

Conclusion

Today you learned how to enter the registry in all current versions Windows OS.

Collected in total three ways:

  1. Search through the start menu by entering the command "regedit"
  2. Using the "Run" command and typing "regedit"
  3. Opening the "regedit" file located in the C:\Windows\ folder

And one additional way: having reached the file "regedit" (third way), create a shortcut on the desktop.

In the next lesson, I plan to look at how to save ( Reserve copy) individual parts of the registry before changing them.

Interesting? Write in the comments, ask questions, and, of course, share the link in in social networks and subscribe to the news!

Copying prohibited but you can share links.

Windows Registry is a hierarchical database in which all parameters are stored operating system Windows. The registry contains settings for software and hardware computer, information about user profiles, security policies, lists of installed software, and other system information.

We will not go into details of the structure, content and work with the registry, as this is a topic for a separate article. Consider only ways to enter the registry editor (running regedit.exe).

Warning! All actions with the registry must be deliberate, do not make changes if you are not sure of their result. You must be clear about what you are doing, as even minor changes to the settings can disrupt the operation of the operating system.

1. Opening the Windows Registry Editor through the Run utility

utility Run can run different ways. The fastest: press a key combination on the keyboard Win+R. In Windows 7, you can use the menu Start -> Run. In the window that opens, type and press OK (or enter on your keyboard).

2. Open via Windows Explorer

Another easy way is to run through windows explorer. To do this, just open My computer and go to the following path: C:\Windows. In this folder, find and run the file . Ready.

3. Launching the Registry Editor via Windows Search

In Windows 7 with a standard desktop, you can open the Start menu and type in the search bar at the bottom. The operating system quickly found the necessary file, which will need to be opened.


Open Start


And enter regedit

In Windows 8, the registry editor can be opened through the search in the same way, only this OS uses a "tiled" interface instead of the standard Start.


Select search in the right menu

The registry is a large database that stores all the settings 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 an entire registry branch, then this may not have the best effect on the computer.

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

With a backup

As you probably guessed, this the way is fine not to everyone. If you have previously created backups registry via "File" - "Export" - read on, if not - go to the next method.

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

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

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

Wait while the files are copied.

Using System Restore

A system restore can be done using restore points. You could create them earlier, when the system worked stably and everything suited you. Or they could be created automatically by the system: when making changes to the computer configuration, before installing drivers, and so on.

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

Here we are interested in the point "Recovery".

In the next window, click "Starting 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 dates ?! - choose it. Clicking "Search for 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 the selected restore point was created.

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 does not start

Restore the registry if the computer does not turn on is also possible. In the operating room Windows system 7, when booting up the computer, press, at intervals of 1 second, the F8 button. A window will appear "Additional download options". In it, use the arrows to select the item "Computer Troubleshooting".

In the next window, select a language and click "Next".

Choose your account, it is better that she has administrator rights, then enter the password, if you have one set when you log in, and click "OK".

The following window should appear, select the item in it "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, you can press F8 or Shift + F8 when loading, but the window additional options you won't get any downloads. It is best to use a system recovery disc or bootable flash drive. You can create them on any other computer with Windows 8 installed.

Follow the link and read the article how to restore Windows 8. Everything is described in detail there. You should have the following window. Then go along 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 . The RegBack folder is also located there, it 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 options download and open command line.

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 an item "Command line". As a result, the command prompt will start as an administrator.

In Windows 8, you can open the command prompt using the combination . This is described in detail in the article: Windows 8 Safe Mode. Read the paragraph: go to safe mode using the Shift+Reload combination. When the next window appears, select "Command line".

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

So, we launched the command line. Now enter the following commands line by line. 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 will safely delete the DEFAULT, SAM, SECURITY, SYSTEM, SOFTWARE files from the config folder, because we have copies of them. And lastly, we 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 restart.

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

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    Discussion: 16 comments

    I enter commands in the line as shown, for some reason it says: “the system could not find this path”, what should I do?

    Reply

    1. Most likely, you have the DEFAULT, SAM, SECURITY, SYSTEM, SOFTWARE folders in a different path, but not c:\windows\system32\config.

      Reply

      1. And what to do?

        Reply

        1. You need to find out the path to the specified files. Do you have the 32 bit version installed or the 64 bit version?

The registry is a repository of all parameters and settings of the operating system. Editing the registry windows 7, 8, etc. carried out when you need to quickly change something in the system settings.
But you should do this only if you are sure of success, otherwise you can provoke a failure. software or operating system

Quick opening

This method is universal for all versions of operating systems, from the "seven" and above. In addition, in this way, opening 7 will be the fastest. It is carried out through the window for entering commands Run. For some users, it is placed on the main start menu or start screen. If it is not there, then you will have to call the window additionally. To call the console in this way, repeat the algorithm:

  • Hold down the Win button and the R button at the same time;
  • Regardless of the type of OS, a small window will appear with the name "Run" and a line for entering a command;

Type in regedit

  • Press OK or Enter;
  • The required window will open.

The desired window may not open immediately. First, the system may require you to confirm administrative rights. Click verification of rights and start using the console. This method is the easiest and fastest, and therefore it is better to remember the command.

The editor itself looks like this

Launch via Search

In order to call the registry in windows 7, you can use the search for folders and system files on your computer. To search, do the following:

  1. Open the Start menu by left-clicking on the button in the lower left corner of the screen;
  2. At the bottom of the expanded list, in the left block, there is a line for entering text (search query);
  3. Type regedit into it and press Search or Enter.

You won't get many results.

Most often this is one necessary file

But if there are several results with the same name in the output, choose the one with the exe format and marked with a blue icon - a cube. This method to enter the windows 7 registry editor is popular with users.

How to Open Registry Editor in Windows 8.1

The menu and the whole design of Windows 8.1 is significantly different from Windows 7. Of course, for those users who did not set up the function of saving the old menu for convenience using special utilities. And therefore, getting into the registry of Windows 8 through Search in the same way as on the "seven" will not work.

  • To find the search query input line, go to the start screen of the operating system;
  • Start typing the desired command on the keyboard. It is not necessary to set the mouse pointer to any specific place;
  • When typing from the keyboard, a search box will automatically open with what you typed;
Enter regedit in the field and press Enter or the magnifying glass image to the right of what you wrote

In the results you will be shown the same program as in the previous case. By clicking on it, you can enter the Windows 8 registry. In the same way, the registry opens on the new "top ten". But sometimes the search on it does not work and you need to use other methods.

Manual file opening

This way to enter the windows xp, 7, 8, 8.1, 10 registry is universal, as it works on any OS versions, even old ones. It is understandable even to inexperienced users, but it takes a lot of time. To implement, go to the registry opening shortcut by clicking from folder to folder or through Explorer.

The location of the shortcut varies depending on the OS version and settings. More often, you can find the registry in windows 8 by following the path Computer - Drive C - Windows - System32.

You open the same file as when you start from the search, but instead of an automated search in the OS, go through the path to the program manually.

  1. If the OS is 64-bit, then the path changes, it looks like My Computer - Drive C - Windows - SysWOW64. Another reason for possible differences is the presence or absence of disk partitioning, and so on. So the path is different but regedit.exe in the main folder with system files. Sometimes it's even herself Windows folder on disk C.
  2. In addition, if you did not use the Windows 7 search as in the second method, but opened the folder containing the program, you can see that it contains regedt32.exe. This is also a registry available on a 64-bit OS. You can edit any of the two registers.
  3. In extremely rare cases, the registry does not open in windows 7 when located at this address. Or it may not be in the folder at all. It's on the computer, but it needs to be found. Alternative storage location - WinSxS folder in the Windows directory. Sometimes there are other alternative places to store the shortcut to open the editor.
  4. The contents of such folders are numerous, and therefore, in order to open the registry in windows xp or another version of the OS in this way, you will need to spend time searching. Apply sorting, although this is unlikely to speed up the process. Therefore, this method is alternative and is used only when the search in windows 7 does not work.

The Windows registry is a repository for all operating system settings on which the correct and correct operation of all software depends. All changes made are saved in it, and often, to solve many problems or to fight viruses, you need to manually find the desired parameter and change the settings in it.

It should be remembered that all changes made can drastically affect the further operation of your computer, and therefore they should be done only when you are confident in your actions.

To enter the registry to change Windows settings, you need to open a window with a tree of its directories. There are two options here, the first is to click "Start" - "Run" or the second, the key combination "Win + R". A small command line window will open on the screen, in it you need to register the following command - “regedit”. Then press Enter or OK.

Next, a registry will open in front of you, or rather a window in which you can search for software and system support and carry out, if necessary, changes in the settings of its work.

Let's start with the latest Windows 10, and consider two options for accessing the registry.
Launching the Registry Editor - Method 1 for Windows 10

Click the "Start" button with the left mouse button (or the "Windows" key on the keyboard);
When the Start menu opens, type "regedit" (without quotes) on your keyboard;
At the top of the search menu, under the inscription "Best match", the item "REGEDIT - Run command" will appear, click on this item with the left mouse button;

If a confirmation window for starting the registry editor appears, click "Yes";
You will see the "Registry Editor" window, in which you can make changes to the registry itself.
How to open the registry in Windows 10

Launching the Registry Editor - Method 2 for Windows 10

Click the Start button with the right mouse button (or the keyboard shortcut Win + X);
In the menu that appears, select the "Run" item (these two steps can be replaced with one Win + R key combination);
In the Run window that appears, type "regedit" (without quotes) and click the "OK" button;
In the launch confirmation window, click "Yes";
The "Registry Editor" window will appear, and you can proceed to make changes.
You can clearly see how to enter the Windows 10 registry in this video:

How to open the registry in Windows 8/8.1

To launch the registry editor in Windows 8, you need to follow the same steps as in Windows 10, if you have version 8 and not 8.1, then you don’t have a Start button, so in the first step of the first method, press the Windows key and then follow the instructions above.
Detailed video instruction on how to enter the Windows 8 (8.1) Registry Editor:

How to open the registry in Windows 7

To open the Registry Editor in Windows 7, you need to follow similar steps:
Launching the Registry Editor - Method 1 for Windows 7


Type the command "regedit" (without quotes);
Click at the top of the menu, under the inscription "Programs" on the inscription "regedit";
Select “Yes” to the prompt to confirm the launch.
Launching the Registry Editor - Method 2 for Windows 7

Press the key combination Win + R on the keyboard (hold down the Windows key and, without releasing it, press the R key);
In the "Run" window, type the command "regedit" (without quotes) and click the "OK" button;
Confirm the launch of the registry editor with the "Yes" button.
Both ways to enter the Windows 7 registry editor can be seen in this video:

How to open the registry in Windows XP

In Windows XP, opening the Registry Editor is slightly different:
Launching the Registry Editor - Method 1 for Windows XP

Click on "Start" with the left mouse button;
In the right column, find the item "Run" (both steps can be replaced with a combination of Win + R)
In the "Start the program" window, write the command "regedit" (without quotes) and click the "OK" button;
Opening the registry in XP

Launching the Registry Editor - Method 2 for Windows XP (and not only)

Open File Explorer (you can use the keyboard shortcut Win + X);
Go to drive "C:";
Open the Windows folder;
Find the "regedit" file and run it.
And, of course, a video version of opening the registry editor in Windows XP:

The second method is suitable for all listed versions of Windows. Moreover, you can cheat a little:
Once you get to the "regedit" file, you can create a shortcut on your desktop and make it much easier to access the Registry Editor in the future.

Launching the editor There are at least 4 ways to invoke this utility:

Through the Explorer.

Search

Through the Run service. command line. It is not necessary to describe them all, since some require a certain level of knowledge and skills to use, but it would be inappropriate not to mention them. So let's get started.

Through Explorer

Open "My Computer", go to system disk(often it is C) and in the search bar we enter: regedit. After some time, which the machine needs to search, the same editor will be offered in the main part of the window. It remains only to open it and begin to perform the required actions. to content.

Through search

We move the mouse cursor to the right panel, where we select "Search" and set the same command as in the previous paragraph: regedit. Then double click Let's activate the application. The utility itself looks like this: READ ALSO What is virtual machine for Windows 8 and how to run it to the content.

Through the "Run" command

This option involves calling an intermediate component. We use the + [R] combination on the keyboard, after which we enter the already familiar Regedit.exe or without the “.exe” extension into the field and press .
1. Launching the registry editor using the "Run" utility.

I will not tire of repeating that the Run utility is one of the most convenient in Windows, with it you can easily and quickly launch the vast majority of system Windows utilities. In this case, this is done in two three steps:

1. Hold down the Win + R keys
2. We write in the opened command regedit
We write in the opened command regedit
3. Click the OK button. Everything, the registry editor is running.

2. Using the search in the start menu

Here the complexity depends on the operating system, so in Windows 10 the search is right on the taskbar, just write regedit and open the search result.

In Windows 7, you need to open the Start menu and enter the same request at the bottom of it.

In Windows 8.x, open the start menu and click on the magnifying glass in the upper right corner.

And then we enter search query. And launch the registry editor.

3. Using Windows Explorer

There is also nothing complicated here, open the explorer and go to the folder.

Scroll down and look for the regedit.exe file with your eyes. When found - we launch.

Using Task Manager
Here the principle is the same as in the first method, but more actions need to be done. We launch the "Task Manager". For example, right-click on the taskbar. And select "File" → "Run a new task".

In the window that opens, enter regedit and click OK.

5. Using the command line
We already know how to run the command line, in our context it will be easiest to use the method through context menu Start angle. And in the window that opens, enter regedit

The result of any of the five methods will be the launch of the Windows Registry Editor window.