Using Windows Registry Editor “REGEDIT”:

A windows registry editor is basically a tool to edit the registry. But the good news is this tool will also let you backup a portion of your windows registry. Let’s briefly talk about how to backup your windows registry using REGEDIT.

1. Click the start button > Run > type REGEDIT and then press ok.
2. Once the REGEDIT is open, select File > Export.
3. Choose and enter the name of the backup file in the File name window.
4. To backup entire registry, select ALL in the Export Range. To make a backup of a portion, select the branch that you want to save and backup it.
5. Click on save, this will create a backup file in the location you choose. Make sure to keep a copy in the external storage device like USB drive and External Hard drive, so if one copy destroys you can use another!

Using Windows System Restore Utility:

This utility available in Windows Vista, restores your system to last known working condition to avoid any mishap in the system. System restore is turned on by default. When the system restore is turned on, it takes a portion of your disk space in that it archives copies of all your system files, settings & configurations and even the windows registry and creates a restore point. When you restore to a restore point, it will take your computer to that point just like a time machine. The only pitfall though when it comes to registry, it only archives a portion of the registry; So thus when you move back in time to a particular restore point, all the changes made to registry since that restore point time, is lost.

Using windows special “complete PC backup and restore” utility not available to Vista home version:

Yes this utility is not available to Vista Home, but it’s available to Vista Ultimate, Vista Business, Vista Enterprise editions. This is also not available to Vista Student edition. This utility creates a complete snap shot of your registry in whole, system files and data, configuration and settings file, other files and programs, and even the OS files. This also has a pitfall in that you can’t save a portion of your registry, but only a whole dump.

So far we’ve talked about the manual backup of Windows Vista Registry, now let’s talk about doing it automatically, which is what I do.

Using Registry Cleaner tool to automatically Backup Windows Vista Registry:

Registry cleaner not just takes care of registry it can also create backups. A commercial registry cleaner like we promote in this site, will help you take backups like a piece of cake. These are also Windows Vista compatible. Registry cleaners unlike the manual backing up method will help you automatically take partial registry and full registry backups. I personally use a registry cleaner to backup my registry, which is quite a popular method for a PC technician like me. This is what we use when you give your computer to us for a service; we use this utility to keep your PC in good working condition!

When you use this tool, you must periodically make a backup of your windows registry. It is one way of ensuring the safety of your OS. Like said before, when you make any kinds of backup, I recommend you to save it in a USB drive and External Hard drive or even burn it up in a CD or DVD. Keeping multiple copies are handy in case if one copy gets destroyed, you can always use another.

Manually backing up windows vista registry:

1. This is done with the help of system’s registry editor utility that comes with every operating system. This tool lets you manually edit and even backup a portion of registry. To do a backup, click on start button > Run > type regedit > File menu > Export > Enter file name > select the required Export range – partial, specific or complete backup > save the file.
2. You can also use system restore tool which is available in windows vista. Restoring is enabled on default once your PC meets all its required specifications. This lets to take your computer back in time, like a time machine, to the latest known working condition. This is helpful when the system fails. This is another way to manually backup and restore your registry in which that, you can only backup the registry wholly and any changes that made after that time you decided to travel back is not available to the registry. That is the only pitfall of this method. Using the system restore, if you are a technical person, you can get into where the system restore saves its file and then find where the registry is saved and take a copy for backup, although this is only recommended for advanced users.
3. If you have a windows vista Enterprise or ultimate or business version of the OS, there is a utility called “Windows Complete Backup and Restore”. This like the method 2 will only take a full backup and there is no way to partially backup.

Automatically backing up windows vista registry:

You can do this with a registry cleaner tool. There are many registry cleaner tools available in the internet that will let you backup your registry automatically. But make sure you invest in a commercial registry cleaner to get the most of it. Commercial tool will have a sophisticated one-click automatic registry backup feature that lets you backup before each scan or just whenever you want it. You can also schedule the backup just like scheduling the scanning. You can do all kinds of backup with a registry cleaner tool – partial or whole without any hassles!

So I recommend you to schedule the backup regularly or do it periodically.  When you do that don’t just save a copy of the backup file to your hard disk drive alone, but also a copy in USB drive and another copy in external Hard disk drive like I do! Make sure you have multiple copies so that if one copy gets lost or corrupted, you can always use another one.