Discover How To Locate The Registry On Windows Xp

By Author: Thomas Gredgen
Total Articles: 9
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Finding the registry file on Windows XP is pretty simple. All you need to do is follow the directions below to get there. There are actually two ways to accomplish finding and backing up your Windows registry file.

One of the easiest ways to backup your Windows registry file if you have a system running anything higher than Windows 98 is to do the following:

Use the System Restore Point and set a restore point. Mind you this may Undo changes to your computer when and if you need to do a System Restore after you've made changes to your registry file if you mess it up in the process. Aside from that, this works beautifully and is quick and easy to do.

The restore point on your computer is a representation of where your computer was at a certain point of time. The restore point is created at specific intervals, so it is a handy thing to know if you install something that craps up your computer, but it works well to back up your computer as well.

Simple do the following to create a System Restore Point:

Go to the START menu and PROGRAMS >> Accessories >> System Tools >> System Restore

You ...
... will be asked to select from two options:

1 - Restore my computer to an earlier time
2 - Create a New Restore Point

You will want to select #2 - Create a Restore Point then click Next. You want to name it something that you'll remember like "BackupRegistry" or the like so that if you need to, you can find it again.

Then click on the Create button and wait. Depending on how complex your system is, it will take a lesser or greater amount of time to accomplish it. That's it. Just click Close and you are ready to proceed.

Now, if you want to know how to locate the registry on Windows XP, it's relatively simple. The registry files can be found here:

- Windows 2000, XP, Vista- C:Documents and SettingsUser Name

This will not do you much good, because the file is locked while the system is running. That means that unless you use the System Restore method, you'll need to do a quick workaround in order to backup your files.

1 - Go to the START menu
2 - Click on the RUN link.
3 - When it opens type "regedit" without the quotes and click OK
4 - Locate and click on the root subkey that will contain all of your child subkeys and values that you'll want to backup.
4 - Go to the File menu and click on the Export link
5 - Click on Save and select a location and filename you'll remember later on to save the registration entries. The files saves as a ".reg" file.

Backing up your registry file in Windows XP is a bit tricky, and you might want to invest in an automated program to handle it for you. Any mistake on your part can cause irreparable harm to your computer system, so either way, be very careful.
Thomas Gredgen is a technician for http://www.registry2aid.com and tests many registry programs and places his results on the website.

Now that you know where your registry is and how to get there, dont bother trying to get too involved in it. Utilize one of our registry repair resources and allow it to do all of the work for you.