How to backup Windows 7 registry (in 3 simple steps)

You will find plenty of registry hacks on our site that allow you to tweak Windows 7 and it’s always recommended to create a registry backup before actually using the registry files or modifying your registry manually.

Creating a backup of the registry is actually pretty simple and works in Windows 7 the same way it did in XP or Vista.

1. First start the registry editor of Windows 7 by entering regedit into the search field on your Start menu:

(Image: Crysis Start button – part of the Crysis Windows 7 Theme)

2. Click on File – Export:

3. Enter a name for your registry backup and make sure the option All is selected to backup the entire registry:

If you want to create a backup of specific registry keys only, you should simply locate the key in the registry editor and then export the registry – the selected branch will be automatically used.

Restoring registry backups:
As you see, creating a backup of the registry is actually pretty simple. The more difficult part is to actually restore the backup. If you don’t know how to restore the registry backup yet, there will be a tutorial shortly that will explain you how to restore a registry backup from command line / recovery console.