Registry Cleaner Articles

How Do I Backup My Registry Before Using A Registry Cleaner?

2009-11-24

The Windows registry is an amazing file. It's a resource that allows Windows to function with hundreds of installed programs. In addition, the registry provides a stable and fast system for a PC. However, over time a registry can take on a number of errors and bad entries that lead to computer slowdown and crashes. The solution to these types of issues is to use a registry cleaner. Registry cleaners find, correct or delete problems with a computer's registry.

But, like the Windows registry itself, registry cleaners aren't perfect. They can occasionally cause issues with how Windows runs. So, before running any sort of registry cleaner program, it's important to go through the process of registry backup to create a fallback copy of your registry. You will be able to use this if a cleaner causes more problems than it solves. Backing up your registry is very easy on a Windows computer, and doesn't take up too much of your time. Some registry cleaners actually back up the file for you, but if you'd rather do it yourself, you can easily and safely create a registry backup copy in just a few minutes.

First, you're going to pull up the Windows registry editor in order to make a backup. Luckily, there is not need for you to get your hands dirty by changing the registry in any way (and in fact, you should be careful not to change the registry if you don't have experience and don't know what you're doing). On your Windows computer, hit the Start button and select Run. Type "regedit" into the box that pops up, and press enter. This brings up the Windows registry editor. In the editor, hit File, then Export. For Range, you'll select "All." This indicates you want to back up the entire registry, and not just certain entries - having a backup of only a small part of the registry would be fairly useless unless you're making changes to the file yourself. Select a location, and save. This will create a .reg file. If your registry cleaner seems to create issues with how your computer's running, all you'll need to do is find that .reg file and double-click it in order to restore your registry to its earlier, better version.

Be sure to back up your registry before doing anything that could possibly make major changes to it, and especially before running a registry cleaner. However, there's not much of a chance that you'll need the backup that you create. Registry cleaners are very safe to use on Windows systems, and are designed to work flawlessly - but it's better to be safe than sorry.

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