Preparing to Edit the Registry

Even though this book is dedicated to registry editing, remember that an incorrect modification or accidental deletion of a registry element can result in making your system unbootable. Before you start editing the registry, take a close look at the following recommendations:

• Microsoft doesn't provide any official support for users who want to solve their problems by editing the registry. However, you can get additional information, and even some advice, by subscribing to Microsoft technical support services.

• Modify the registry only when you know that all the information related to the registry keys, values, and restrictions for devices and applications that you're going to troubleshoot is correct.

• Start editing the registry only when all attempts to set or modify a certain function using the Control Panel applets or administrative utilities have failed. Note that using the Device Manager is the best way to modify hardware settings, since this tool won't let you delete any of the required registry keys or make other critical mistakes. Registry editors don't safeguard you against mistakes like these.

• When you start the registry editors, remember that these tools are incapable of undoing or redoing your actions. Any changes that you make will be saved automatically (and almost immediately). If you make an error, the only method of quickly undoing your change is to import the previously created registry file before rebooting the system.

Tip 

Never introduce a large number of changes at one time. Always try to introduce only one modification per registry editing session, and reboot the system when you're done. This will allow you to test the changes you've made. If you've made a lot of changes during a single registry editing session, and your system becomes unbootable, it will be hard to identify the modification that caused the problem. When you're sure that the modification to the registry is usable, you may proceed with any other changes. Don't forget to backup the registry on a regular basis. The frequency of the backup depends on the frequency of registry modifications (and on the tool used to edit the registry). Generally speaking, you should backup your registry at least once a week. If you edit the registry every day, create a backup copy at the end of the working day. I also recommend that you have the most recent files of the system policies, INF files, and system policy templates.

More detailed information on the Windows NT/2000/XP registry backup and recovery procedures is provided in Chapter 2.

Before going any further, read Chapter 2 carefully and make sure that you haven't skipped anything.

Tip 

Before you edit the registry to make any of the changes described in this chapter, read the appropriate section carefully. You'll have to make the decision as to whether or not you (or the user whose computer you're going to configure) really need this customization, and if so, just how much you need it. The customizations described in this chapter change the default settings of the operating system. Note that these default settings are satisfactory for most users. Before going any further, export the registry keys that you're going to modify. This will allow you restore the keys if you make an accidental change, or if you don't like the effect of the modifications.