Windows Registry Editor for dummies

Now, under the Restore Settings section, select the Turn on System Protection option. As Registry Editor Dialogue box will appear, click the Yes button. Great care has been taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this article but neither Sound On Sound Limited nor the publishers can be held responsible for its contents. The views expressed are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the publishers. SYSTEM\Select\LastKnownGood – key that will hold the last known good config, regarding the Control Sets. This mfc30 is an important hive, and the one you will probably end up referring to for the most part of your investigation.

  • The blue screen of death arises because of a computer problem.
  • In the event log, the «General» tab includes a brief technical description of the error that might give you a hint of the blue screen problem.
  • You can use System Restore to roll its system software back to a previous state.
  • When a user creates a restore point, it takes a snapshot of registry files, Windows files, and drivers to store a computer’s ‘state’ in memory.

It should help you get around BSOD while upgrading to Windows 11/10. Work in Safe Mode, as only the core drivers and services are activated. If your system starts in Safe Mode but not normally, you very likely have a problem driver. Try running Device Manager in Safe Mode and uninstalling the most likely suspect. Check your system BIOS carefully Is an update available from the manufacturer of the system or motherboard? Check the BIOS documentation carefully; resetting all BIOS options to their defaults can sometimes resolve an issue caused by over tweaking. Every piece of hardware on your computer from your mouse to your keyboard depends on a special software program called a “driver” to make it work.

Software Incompatibilities

Then there are some important things to consider under the “Export Range” section at the bottom of the window. Make sure to select All to back up the entire Registry. Otherwise, it will back up the selected branch only. The Registry is the heart and soul of your Windows operating system. Before making any major changes to it it’s important to back it up first. Of course just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should. Several years ago I wrote an article in which I demonstrated a procedure in PowerShell and along the way, I used one of the old DOS commands.

is windows registry a file

A “blue screen”, also called Stop Error, is what’s commonly known as the Blue Screen of Death which is usually hardware or software related. If you encounter Windows10 blue screen of death error, you will see a message as shown below. Additionally, there are some online tools and software applications that will come up when you do a search for troubleshooting for the blue screen. Not all of these tools and applications are trustworthy.

Fix Windows 11 BSOD Error: Step-by-Step Tutorial

The game vendors’ support teams will tell you to reinstall all your games and patches. Personally, I’d rather search forums and spelunk through the registry to manually recreate the two or three registry keys the game is looking for.