The registry is a database of information Windows keeps for just about everything. Most of your settings, configuration, passwords and more are all kept in the system registry. Windows applications are also encouraged to keep their settings and configuration information there, too.
Itâs a key component of Windows, and while it doesnât happen often, sometimes changes made to the contents of the registry can cause problems, from misbehaving applications to systems that simply wonât boot.
Unfortunately, changing some settings in Windows, particularly in the Home edition, requires us to play with the registry manually, increasing the risk that something might go wrong.
The solution? Back it up first.
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System Restore
Itâs no secret, Iâm not a fan of System Restore. Itâs proven to be unreliable (restore points seem to go missing occasionally), and itâs misleading (it doesnât actually restore your system â only key components). In general, my preference is to use a full-fledged image backup, and have a regular backup strategy in place, instead of relying on System Restore.
Thereâs one exception to my preference, and thatâs when it comes to fiddling with the registry.
System Restore is, in many ways, not much more than a glorified registry backup. That means, though, that itâs a great tool when you want to back up only the registry, and only for a short time, such as when youâre making simple changes to the registry by hand.
You could take a full image backup. It would take longer, but you would absolutely have everything backed up.
But if you just want to protect yourself from inadvertent errors due to a manual change youâre making to the registry, System Restore is actually a reasonable solution.
Turning on System Restore
In Windows 10, you can click on the Start menu icon and just start typing âSystem Restoreâ. The first search result will be âCreate a restore pointâ.
Click on that to open the âSystem Protectionâ tab of your system properties.
(In other versions of Windows, you can right click on âComputerâ, âMy Computerâ, or âThis PCâ, click on Properties to open this dialog, and then click on the System Protection tab.)
If System Restore is turned off, click on the system drive in the âAvailable Drivesâ list, and then click on the Configure⊠button.
In the resulting dialog, make sure that âTurn on system protectionâ is selected, and that the âMax Usageâ slider is set to something greater than zero. I recommend 10% as a reasonable setting. Click OK to save these changes, and System Restore will be enabled.
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Making a Restore Point
Back in the System Protection tab, create a restore point by clicking on the Create⊠button.
Youâll be asked to give your restore point a name or description (not shown), and once youâve done so, the restore point is created. This can take a few minutes.
Restoring a Restore Point
Should you ever need to restore a restore point, the process is simple, though it takes slightly longer.
Return to the same âSystem Protectionâ tab of âSystem Propertiesâ that we used above1, but this time click on System RestoreâŠ. This will launch the System Restore wizard. Click on Next (not shown).
Click on the restore point you wish to restore, and then click Next (not shown).
Youâll be presented with a summary of the operation about to be performed. Note: your computer will reboot during this process.
Click on Finish (not shown) for one final confirmation.
Click on Yes to proceed.
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After some time, and a reboot, the restore will complete.
Your systemâs registry has been restored to the state it was in when you created the restore point.
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  Backing Up Your Registry with System Restore
I run Win 7 Pro and âSystem Restoreâ has never restored successfully in the 3 years Iâve owned this computer. I either find a recent backup and use that or do a reformat and complete re-install. The problem with the complete reinstall is finding the correct drivers, itâs a Dell XPS 8700.
Do you access S.R. from the control panel, or from restarting & hitting F8? Iâve used Win 7 for years, & S.R. never works from Control Panel/System/Backup & Restore, but always works by hitting Restart/Continually Hitting F8/Repair Computer.
Wondering, if we do create a restore point can we save it to a flash drive or some other media and if all goes haywire, restore from that external restore point?
No. But thatâs exactly how an image backup works. With an image backup you create a âpictureâ of your entire machine that you can restore at any time. Hereâs an article that explains the basics: https://askleo.com/how_do_i_backup_my_computer/
No. A restore point is NOT NOT NOT a backup of your system, and it does not ârestoreâ your system.
How about a third party utility for registry backup?
I have both Wise Care 365 and Glary Utilities Pro and they each have full registry back and restore features.
I am sure there are many other utilities, but do you know of a good one that you like and recommend?
Thank you.
I donât disrecommend those utilities, but as this article points out â you donât really need them if all you want is a registry backup.
Auslogics Registry Cleaner is another route to registry restore. The Rescue Center under file has a list of all restore points available, some of which System Restore doesnât show.
All Microsoft professionals recommend that normal users *never* *ever* touch anything called a âRegistry Cleaner.â They will say itâs 1) not needed, 2) will *not* speed up your computer, and 3) has a better than 50-50 change of breaking things. And by definition, a professional is one who earns their living from computing, is not a âhackerâ, and probably isnât a computer enthusiast.
As a hacker and enthusiast, I agree with those 3 points, but use a Ccleanerâs registry cleaner anyway. So far itâs the only cleaner that hasnât broken things, and that includes Auslogics cleaner.
My rule of thumb for users is do not use any registry cleaner unless you know how to recover a broken computer due to a messed up registry. And that exactly what this article was about!
Just open Registry, and Export it to a file and save to a flash drive. Simple.
As I commented on elsewhere, if youâre comfortable with that AND know how to restore it, great â go for it. System restore is easier for more people to deal with, particularly for the restore.
As to registry backup, I use Tweaking.com Registry Backup to create a daily registry backup on my Windows 7 systems â as best I can understand, this creates a full backup which is superior to the Windows option to export a registry. The couple of times Iâve needed it, itâs done the job. But itâs no substitute for regular drive image backups to external media when things go really wrong.
Iâve yet to get Windows restore to restore successfully on Windows 10. It use to work on older versions of Windows.
I use Erunt. It backs the registry at first boot every day. It can save several copies.