WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. To edit the registry, Microsoft recommends that you follow the steps in the Microsoft documentation only. If it is possible, use the Windows user interface instead of directly editing the registry.

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

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Information about editing the registry

To edit the registry, Microsoft recommends that you follow the steps in the Microsoft documentation only. If you can, use the Windows user interface instead of directly editing the registry.

You can edit the registry by using Registry Editor (Regedit.exe or Regedt32.exe). If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft does not guarantee that problems that you cause by using Registry Editor incorrectly can be resolved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. For additional information about the differences between Regedit.exe and Regedt32.exe, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Before you modify the registry, make sure to back up the registry, and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For additional information about backing up and restoring the registry, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: . . .

Caution

• Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on your computer.

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I Thought We Weren't Supposed to Change Settings in the Registry?

As you probably know, Microsoft has a sort of love-hate relationship with the registry. The registry is the configuration database for Windows and Windows applications, and many options can only be set by manually changing a value in the registry. For example, if you've ever read a Microsoft Knowledge Base article, you've likely seen a sentence similar to this:

To correct this problem, change the following value in the registry.

Now that's fine, except that this sentence is invariably followed by a disclaimer similar to this one:

Warning: Don't ever change a value in the registry. Ever. We know we just told you to do that, but would you jump off a cliff if we told you to? Don't ever change a value in the registry. Don't even say the word registry. We know a guy once who said the word registry, and three days later he was hit by a bus. True story. As a matter of fact, you shouldn't even have a registry on your computer. If you suspect that you do have a registry on your computer, call us and a trained professional will be dispatched to your office to remove the registry immediately. If you accidentally touch the registry, wash your hands with soap and water and call a doctor. Do not swallow the registry or get it in your eyes!

Now, to be honest, some of those fears are a bit exaggerated, and the disclaimer is there largely for legal reasons (remember, this is the day and age when you can order hot coffee in a restaurant and then sue the restaurant when the coffee they give you turns out to be, well, hot). If you do it correctly, changing the registry is perfectly harmless. At the same time, however, it's true that there are certain values in the registry that should never be changed. In fact, changing them can pretty much wipe your computer out, once and for all. It's like working on the bomb squad: if you snip the right wire, the bomb is defused and everything is fine. But if you snip the wrong one—Boom! You just created Microsoft Bob!

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