Restoring deleted registry in all versions of Windows

While tweaking registry entries, you accidently deleted a registry key and now you can’t find a way to restore it.


It is always advisable to set a restore point or back up your registry before making any changes to it. To back up the registry, open ‘Run’ in the Start menu, enter ‘regedit’ and then click ‘OK’ to start the registry editor. In Windows Vista on the other hand, type ‘regedit’ in the start menu search box and press [Enter]. In the Registry Editor, click ‘File| Export’ and select the ‘Export Range’ as ‘All’. Type a file name and save the registry file. If you do delete a registry key by mistake while tweaking the entries and you have not taken a backup of that key, don’t panic as there is a workaround for this as well. For example, say you deleted the registry entry ‘HKEY_CLASSES_ ROOT\lnkfile’ by mistake. This entry is responsible for all the shortcuts on your computer and deleting this will cause all the shortcuts to disappear from the Start menu, quick launch as well as the system tray. Even the startup programs won’t initiate if this registry key is deleted. To restore this registry key, just obtain the same one from another PC using the same Windows version as yours and restore it to your PC. To export the registry key from another PC, open the Registry Editor and navigate to ‘HKEY_CLASSES_ ROOT\ lnkfile’, right-click on it and select ‘Export’. Type an appropriate file name and click ‘Save’ to save the key. After that, transfer the file to your PC using a pen drive and double-click on the file. Restart your PC after that and the lost key is restored on your computer and all your icons will be back. You can do this for any key deleted from the registry. Note: This is not applicable to registry entries of installed third party programs or applications installed on your computer. You can only export and use the registry entries related to Windows itself. Also, make sure that you only use keys from the same version of Windows. For example, if you are using Windows XP with SP2, you can only use the registry keys from another copy of Windows XP with SP2.