You may need to backup your Windows XP registry for a number of reasons. The registry must be backed up before any changes are made to it. This enables restoration if any changes made should cause problems. There are three common methods of doing a backup. 1. Using Windows XP System Restore. This is a windows component which makes regular logs of the registry, operating system and configuration settings. 2. Using Registry Editor (REGEDIT) which is also installed in your computer. 3. Using repair applications. All good repair applications will do a backup before editing.

1. To Use XP Systems Restore:

1. Click on START-> All Programs-> Accessories-> System Tools-> System Restore.

2. Go to Select a Restore Point, click on Restore my computer to an earlier time and click NEXT.

3 .Choose the date you wish to restore your system to, and click on Next.

4. On Confirm Restore Point Selection, confirm the date then click on NEXT to begin the restoration.

5. The system will revert to exactly the way it was at the time you selected.

2. To Use REGEDIT:

A. Click on START->Run->type Regedit->click OK .

B. In the REGEDIT window click on File and then click on Export.

C. Type the name of your backup file in the File box.

D. Go to the Export range section, click on All to back up the complete registry or you can backup a selected part of it by choosing the selected branch of your choice and typing the branch you need to backup in the box.

E. Click on Save and save your backup as a .reg file in the location you specify.

F. To restore your registry via this backup, go to the .reg file you want to restore and double-click on it. Click on Yes to confirm the selection. This method of backup and restore is very useful but it does not reverse any changes you may have made after the backup. It only reverses the entries that are in the .reg file.

3. To Use A Registry Repair Application:

Repair applications are an easy method of backup and restore. Good repair programs will do a backup before carrying out any changes. They will then do a scan and edit out errors and unnecessary files. Most registry repair tools have a button which will backup it up to a file. To restore the registry you click on the button, find this file and do the restoration. The advantage of making use of a repair tool is that they are very simple to use and you need know nothing about the registry to use them.

There are a number of circumstances which may require doing a registry restore:

1. To repair problems caused by a new program install or uninstall.

2. To fix bad entries resulting from a system or software crash.

3. To remove entries placed there by spyware, adware or other malware.

4. To correct changes made in error during a manual edit.

5. To restore after a problem caused by a scan and repair.

Our recommendation is that a good registry repair application should always be used to effect repair. If manual editing is attempted it may result in very serious problems if essential entries are removed in error. In this case the computer may become completely inoperable and even if a backup has been made it will not be possible to use it. In this worst case scenario a complete reinstallation of the operating system may be the only way to get the computer working again. Needless to say this is not a happy outcome.

We have tested most of the popular registry repair tools and we found that, whilst they will all do the work, some are much better than others. We found one program that was definitely superior to the others and which found up to 50% more errors than some other applications. This is the registry fix which we chose to install on our own computers.