Vista - Registry - Backup and Restore

Information

This will show you a few options on how to export the registry as a .reg file backup, and how to import the .reg file to restore to the registry in Vista. You can select to backup and restore all or part of the registry.

WARNING

Importing or merging the .reg file backup will only restore the keys and values that were in the backup. If you have added new keys and values since the .reg file backup was created, then these items will not be affected when you import or merge the backup to the registry. If you wanted to replace the registry completely with a backup, then System Restore (see Method One in OPTION ONE & TWO below) will allow you to do this instead.

• How to Do a System Restore in Vista
• How to Create a System Restore Point in Vista
• How to Add or Remove Registry Editor from the Vista Control Panel
• How to Use the Registry Editor in Vista and other Techniques
• How to Find Text in the Vista Registry Editor - Regedit
• How to Enable or Disable Regedit in Vista

Method One:
Using System Restore

NOTE

This is the best method to use since it will completely replace the current registry with the contents of the registry as it was on the date the restore point was created. However, using System Restore will also backup and restore all of the system files in Vista and not just the registry.

1. Create a restore point.
NOTE: See information at that link for more details on this.

Method Two:
Export All of the Registry as a Backup

NOTE

This will allow you to export all of the current registry to a .reg file as a backup.

1. Open the Start menu and type regedit in the search line, then press Enter.

2. If prompted by UAC, click on Continue to approve.

3. Click on File on the menu bar, then click on Export. (See screenshot below)

4. Select where you want to save the exported .reg file to, select (dot) the All option under Export range, type in a name for the .reg file, and click on the Save button. (See screenshot below)

Method Three:
Export Only Part of the Registry as a Backup

NOTE

This will allow you to only export a HKEY or key branch in the registry to a .reg file as a backup.

1. Open the Start menu and type regedit in the search line, then press Enter.

2. If prompted by UAC, click on Continue to approve.

3. To Export a Registry HKEY Branch -
NOTE: This will allow you to backup the entire selected HKEY branch with all of it's subkeys and key values to a .reg file as a backup.

A) Right click on a HKEY branch that you want to backup, and click on Export. (See screenshot below)

B) Select where you want to save the exported .reg file to, type in a name for the .reg file, and click on the Save button. (See screenshot below)

4. To Export a Registry KEY Branch -
NOTE: This will allow you to backup the entire selected KEY branch under a HKEY with all of it's subkeys and key values to a .reg file as a backup.

A) Right click on a KEY branch under the HKEY that you want to backup, and click on Export. (See screenshot below)

B) Select where you want to save the exported .reg file to, type in a name for the .reg file, and click on the Save button. (See screenshot below step 3B)

Method One:
From a System Restore Point

NOTE

This will replace your current registry and system files in Vista by restoring the registry and system files in Vista back to how they were on the date the restore point (Option One, Method One) was created.

1. Do a System Restore using a restore point with the date you want to restore you Vista registry and system files back to.
NOTE: See information at link for more details on this.

Method Two:
From a REG File to Restore All of the Registry

NOTE

This will allow you to replace and restore only the keys and values that were in the backup .reg file (Option One, Method Two) at the date it was created. Any added new keys and values since the .reg file backup was created will not be affected by the backup. Since there will be registry entries in use, you have to restore it from outside Vista using a method like below.

1. Using the System Recovery Options, select to boot into a Command Prompt.
NOTE: You will need to boot into a command prompt at boot to be able to restore the entire registry. You will not be able to from within Vista since some of the registry keys will be in use with access denied.

2. In the command prompt, type diskpart and press Enter. (See screenshot below step 5)

3. In the command prompt, type list volume and press Enter.
NOTE: Make note of what the drive letter is for your Vista drive or partition. If you have more than one OS installed other than Vista, then Vista may not be listed as the C: drive. (See screenshot below step 5)

4. In the command prompt, type exit and press Enter. (See screenshot below step 6)

5. In the command prompt, type the drive letter followed by a colon for the drive letter that Vista is installed on and press Enter.
NOTE: For example, it shows my Vista hard drive as the C: drive from the results in step 3, so I would type C: and press enter.

6. In the same command prompt, type regedit /s (full path to saved .reg file) and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: I saved my Registry Backup.reg file to my desktop, so I would type:
regedit /s C:\Users\User-Name\Desktop\Registry Backup.reg
and press Enter. Your file path will vary of course.

7. Close the command prompt window, and restart the computer.

Method Three:
From a REG File to Restore Part of the Registry

NOTE

This will allow you to replace and restore only the keys and values that were in the backup .reg file (Option One, Method Three) at the date it was created. Any added new keys and values since the .reg file backup was created will not be affected by the backup.

1. Merge from the REG File -

A) Right click on the backup .reg file and click on Merge. (See screenshot below)

B) Click on Yes and Yes to approve the merge.

C) Go to step 3.

2. Import from Regedit -

A) Open the Start menu and type regedit in the search line, then press Enter.

B) If prompted by UAC, click on Continue to approve.

C) Click on File on the menu bar, then click on Import. (See screenshot below)

D) Navigate to where you saved the backup .reg file and select it, then click on the Save button. (See screenshot below)

E) You will now see the import progress window. (See screenshot below)

3. Click on OK.

Tip

If you get the error below, then you will need to do OPTION TWO - Method Two instead to restore the backup .reg file since the keys in the backup are in use.