The Windows Registry is at the heart of the Windows operating system. The Registry is a set of system files constructed into a database that contains system-level and application-level parameters on both a machine and a user basis. If the Registry were to become corrupted it could render your system unusable, so it's important to make regular backups of it so you can restore a good copy of the Registry if necessary.
The best way to protect yourself is to take a backup of the complete Registry. This can be done by creating a restore point, since the Registry is included in restore points. The way you create a restore point varies slightly depending on your version of Windows.
To create a restore point, follow these steps if you are using Windows 10:
Figure 1. The Windows 10 System dialog box.
Figure 2. The Windows 10 System Protection tab of the System Properties dialog box.
In Windows 8 the way in which you access the system area is just a bit different than in Windows 10:
Figure 3. The Windows 8 System dialog box.
Figure 4. The Windows 8 System Protection tab of the System Properties dialog box.
If you are using Windows 7 the steps are different still. (The biggest difference is how you get to the first dialog box.) Follow these steps:
Figure 5. The Windows 7 System dialog box.
Figure 6. The Windows 7 System Protection tab of the System Properties dialog box.
If you are just making small, isolated changes to the Registry, you may want to simply back up a particular "hive" (a set of Registry keys and values) instead of backing up the entire thing. Exporting a portion of the Registry is covered under another tip.
This tip (12206) applies to Windows 7 and 8.
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Discover More2021-05-17 18:03:13
Tomek
MW: thank you for your answer, but my problem is that my restore points are disappearing. I can create them all right, and they are available for a while, until some windows update removes them. Currently all my restore points from before 2021-05-12 created by Windows Module installer have disappeared. (see Figure 1 below)
Figure 1. My current restore points
2021-05-17 16:51:48
MW
Tomek: There is a registry setting that enables/disables your ability to save restore points. It is a simple fix to enable that setting if it is not already.
Google "enable system restore via registry setting" to find the instructions and registry key to change.
2021-05-17 13:11:08
Tomek
I found that my restore points are disappearing. This happens usually when an automatic restore point is created by Windows at the time of some update, often I cannot return to my restore point that I created before installing some software or tweaking the system.
Is there a solution for this?
2021-05-17 08:33:55
Why show us this confusing directions .. use REGEDIT command ... why would you not include this ... or maybe you don't know about it
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