This minHour teaches you how to enable access to the Registry Editor on a Windows computer. Whether your Registry Editor has been disabled by an administrator on your school network or a virus is preventing you from opening it, there are a few ways you can attempt to bring the Registry Editor back online.
Using Run
Open Start.
Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
Type run into Start.
This will search your computer for the “Run” app.
Click Run.
It’s at the top of the Start window. Run will open.
- If you’re on a computer where Run is disabled, you won’t be able to open Run.
Type regedit into Run.
This is the command to open the Registry Editor.
Click OK.
Doing so will run the Registry Editor open command. If the Registry Editor prompts you for permission and then opens when you click , your problem is fixed.
- If the Registry Editor doesn’t open, you’ll need to try another method in this article.
- If you receive a pop-up window that says “Registry editing has been disabled by your administrator”, you’ll need to edit your Group Policy settings. This will only work if you control the Group Policy Editor on your network.
Running a Security Scan
Disable any third-party antivirus programs.
Third-party antivirus programs—that is, any antivirus program that isn’t Windows Defender—can cause several different problems with your computer. Because of this, disable all antivirus protection that isn’t Windows Defender before continuing.
Open Start.
Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
Type windows defender security center into Start.
This will search your computer for the Windows Defender application.
- On some versions of Windows, this may show up simply as Windows Defender instead.
Click Windows Defender Security Center.
It’s a white shield on a grey background. You’ll see it at the top of the Start window.
Click the shield icon.
This icon is in the upper-left corner of the Windows Defender page.
- When expanded, this option is called Virus & threat protection.
Click Advanced scan.
It’s a link below the button in the middle of the page.
- On some versions of Windows Defender, click the Home tab instead as there is no Advanced Scan section.
Make sure “Full scan” is checked.
Click the circle to the left of “Full scan” at the top of the page if it isn’t already filled in.
Click Scan now.
It’s in the middle of the page. Windows Defender will start scanning your computer for malicious software that might be preventing Registry access.
Wait for the scan to complete.
If anything malicious turns up during the scan, Windows Defender will alert you and give you the option of removing the dangerous items.
- If this scan doesn’t find anything, repeat the scan with “Windows Defender Offline scan” checked instead of “Full scan” checked.
Try to open Registry Editor.
Once the scan completes, open , type in regedit, and press ↵ Enter. If the Registry Editor still doesn’t open, you’ll need to try a different method.
- You may need to restart your computer before you can access Registry Editor after the scan.
Using Command Prompt
Open Start.
Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
Type command prompt into Start.
This will bring up the Command Prompt icon in the Start menu.
Right-click Command Prompt.
It’s at the top of the Start window. A drop-down menu will appear.
- If your trackpad doesn’t have a right mouse button, use two fingers to tap the trackpad instead.
Click Run as administrator.
It’s an option in the drop-down menu.
- If you aren’t an administrator on this computer, you won’t be able to complete this method.
Click Yes when prompted.
Doing so will open Command Prompt in Administrator mode.
Enter the Registry refresh command.
Type reg add “HKCUSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystem” /t Reg_dword /v DisableRegistryTools /f /d 0 into Command Prompt, then press ↵ Enter.
Close Command Prompt.
Your command should have re-enabled the Registry Editor.
Try to open Registry Editor.
Open , type in regedit, and press ↵ Enter. If the Registry Editor doesn’t open, proceed to the next step.
Restart your computer.
Open , click the icon, and click . Once your computer finishes restarting, you can try opening Registry Editor again.
- If Registry Editor still won’t open, you may be able to use a script to force it to open.
Using Group Policy Editor
Open Start.
Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
Type group policy editor into Start.
This will search your computer for the Group Policy Editor program.
Click the Group Policy Editor icon.
It’s at the top of the Start menu. Group Policy Editor will open.
- On some versions of Windows it may read Edit group policy instead.
Double-click User Configuration.
Doing so will expand this item to display the folders below it.
- Skip this step if User Configuration is already expanded.
- If you don’t see this option, first double-click the Local Computer Policy item at the top of the sidebar.
Click Administrative Templates.
This folder is near the bottom of the list of folders.
Double-click the System folder.
It’s on the right side of the Group Policy Editor window.
Double-click Prevent access to registry editing tools.
You’ll find this item on the right side of the window.
- You may have to scroll down to find it.
Check the “Not Configured” box.
It’s in the upper-left side of the pop-up window.
Click Apply, then click OK.
These are both at the bottom of the window. Doing so should re-enable Registry Editor on your computer.
Try to open Registry Editor.
Open , type in regedit, and press ↵ Enter. If Registry Editor opens, you have successfully bypassed the Group Policy Editor restrictions.
Using a Visual Basic Script
Open a new Notepad document.
Open , type notepad in, and click the blue app. This will open a new Notepad document.
Copy the following code into the Notepad document:
Option Explicit Dim WSHShell, n, MyBox, p, t, mustboot, errnum, vers Dim enab, disab, jobfunc, itemtype Set WSHShell = WScript.CreateObject(“WScript.Shell”) p = “HKCUSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystem” p = p & “DisableRegistryTools” itemtype = “REG_DWORD” mustboot = “Log off and back on, or restart your pc to” & vbCR & “effect the changes” enab = “ENABLED” disab = “DISABLED” jobfunc = “Registry Editing Tools are now ” t = “Confirmation” Err.Clear On Error Resume Next n = WSHShell.RegRead (p) On Error Goto 0 errnum = Err.Number if errnum 0 then WSHShell.RegWrite p, 0, itemtype End If If n = 0 Then n = 1 WSHShell.RegWrite p, n, itemtype Mybox = MsgBox(jobfunc & disab & vbCR & mustboot, 4096, t) ElseIf n = 1 then n = 0 WSHShell.RegWrite p, n, itemtype Mybox = MsgBox(jobfunc & enab & vbCR & mustboot, 4096, t) End If
Click File.
It’s in the top-left side of the Notepad window.
Click Save As….
This option is near the top of the drop-down menu.
Select a save location.
Click the folder on the left side of the Save As window.
Enter Registry Editor.vbs as the file name.
Enter Registry Editor.vbs as the file name. Do this in the “File name:” field.
Select a file type.
Click the drop-down box next to “Save as type:”, then click . This will save your document in the correct file format.
Click Save.
It’s in the bottom-right corner of the Save As window. This will create your file.
Close Notepad.
Click the in the top-right corner of Notepad to do so.
Double-click the VBS file.
Doing so will prompt the script to run.
- This script will switch the registry editor’s disabled/enabled setting. Do not run it a second time, or the registry editor will be disabled again.
Try to open Registry Editor.
Open , type in regedit, and press ↵ Enter. If the Registry Editor still won’t open, you may need to take your computer into a tech department to have a professional look at it.
Tips
- Most school and work computers will not let you use the Registry Editor as a matter of policy.
Warnings
- Never edit the registry unless you know exactly what you are doing. A mistake could make your operating system unusable.