There may be situations when you may need to update or edit the Windows registry to install software on your computer. Doing so can cause the Windows registry to become corrupted, which may break applications installed on your computer. To avoid this, it is recommended that you back up the registry before making any manual modifications to it. This article provides information on how to back up the Windows registry based on your operating system.

To back up the Windows registry, determine which operating system is on your computer and then click on the link below that corresponds to your respective operating system. To determine your operating system, see How Do I Determine What Operating System Is on My Computer? The following articles are contained in Microsoft's knowledge base.

Windows 95/98/ ME

322754 HOW TO: Backup, Edit, and Restore the Registry in Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me

Windows NT 4.0

323170 HOW TO: Backup, Edit, and Restore the Registry in Windows NT 4.0

Windows 2000

322755 HOW TO: Backup, Edit, and Restore the Registry in Windows 2000

Windows XP

322756 HOW TO: Back Up, Edit, and Restore the Registry in Windows XP