Adding New Keys
To add a new key to any registry hive, select the New | Key commands from the Edit
menu. The procedure is straightforward and very similar to that of creating new folders in
Windows Explorer. The new key will be created without prompting the user to provide a
name, but you will be able to rename the new key after it has been created.
Adding New Value Entries
To add new registry value entries, select the New command from the Edit menu, then
select the appropriate command, depending on the data type of the value entry to be
created. Using Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 version of Regedit.exe, you can
create string-value types (REG_SZ, REG_MULTI_SZ, and REG_EXPAND_SZ) and
binary values (REG_DWORD or REG_BINARY). The new value entry will be created
without prompting the user to provide a name, but you'll be able to rename and edit the
value after it has been created.
Using the Binary Editor
When you select the binary value (REG_BINARY data type) and then select the Modify
command from the Edit menu, Regedit.exe opens the Edit Binary Value window (Fig.
3.10). Note that you can use the binary editor to edit a value of any type by selecting the
Modify Binary Data command. Enter the data into the Value data field of the Edit
Binary Value window.

Figure 3.10: The Edit Binary Value window
Editing String Values
Select the REG_SZ value in the right pane of the Registry Editor window. Then select the
Modify command from the Edit menu to start the String Editor. The Edit String window
(Fig. 3.11
) allows you to edit string values.

Figure 3.11: The Edit String window
Editing DWORD Values
When you double-click a REG_DWORD registry value entry or highlight an entry of this
type and select the Modify command from the Edit menu, the DWORD editor starts

).

Figure 3.16: The system prompts you to confirm your intention to delete a registry key or
value entry

Note Don't forget to back up the registry hives where you'll be deleting keys or value
entries. Registry editors don't provide the capability to undo this operation. After
having confirmed the deletion, you will have no other means of restoring the
information other than the use of backup copies. As shown in Fig. 3.14
, the warning
message displayed by the system doesn't specify the name of the key you are about
to delete. Before proceeding further, check the name of the selected key and make
sure that you know what you're doing.
If you delete something from the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet, you can restore this key
using the Last Known Good configuration (see Chapter 6
).
The View Menu Commands
The View menu contains commands that allow you to select the method of displaying the
registry. It contains the following commands:

Status Bar

Split

Display Binary Data

Refresh
The Status Bar command in the View menu allows the user to hide the status bar. The
status bar is useful because it helps you to navigate the registry. For this reason, I