Sometimes, as part of a troubleshooting step or a registry hack of some sort, you'll need to do some sort of "work" in the Windows registry. Perhaps you're adding a new registry key to fix some kind of bug in the way Windows processes something, or you're removing a rogue registry value that's causing problems with a piece of hardware or a software program.

No matter what you do, most people find the registry quite overwhelming; it is huge and seems very complex. Furthermore, you have probably heard that even the smallest mistake on your part can render your computer unusable.

Fear not! It’s really not that hard to make changes to the registry if you know what you’re doing. Follow the steps below to change, add, or delete parts of the Windows registry:

Hopefully this was your first thought as well, but before you begin the specific tasks described in the following paragraphs, start by backing up the registry.