Regedit - Enable or Disable

How to Enable or Disable Regedit in Vista and Windows 7​

   Information

This will allow you to enable or disable Registry Editor (aka: regedit) for all users in Windows 7 and Vista.

By default, regedit.exe is enabled.

You must be logged in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial.

   Note

Even if you disable access to registry editor, you can still use registry editor in silent mode by using the /s switch. For example, if you type regedit /s filename.reg at the command prompt, you can import the filename.reg registry file into the registry, even though the Prevent access to registry editing tools policy is enabled. In order to prevent this, make sure you select Yes for Disable regedit from running silently? (See step below).

   Tip

The Registry Editor EXE file is located at: C:\Windows\regedit.exe

   Warning

If you did not disable regedit.exe, then it may have been done by some kind of malware or spyware. You should do a complete scan of your computer for a virus and other malware to be safe.

EXAMPLE: Error Message
NOTE: You get this when you try to run Regedit.exe or a REG file when set to disabled.

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OPTION ONE

Enable or Disable Regedit Using a VBS File Download

NOTE: This VBS script will toggle Registry Editor to be enabled or disabled when runned. If regedit was disabled before running the VBS script, then it will be enabled automatically. If regedit was enabled before running the VBS script, then it will be disabled automatically

1. Click on the Download button below to download the .vbs file below.​

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Enable-Disable_regedit.vbs​

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2. Click on Save, and save the .vbs file to your desktop.​

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3. Open an elevated command prompt.​

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4. In the elevated command prompt, copy and paste the command below and press Enter. (see screenshot below)​

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cd /d %userprofile%\desktop​

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5. In the elevated command prompt, copy and paste the command below and press Enter. (see screenshot above)​

wscript.exe Enable-Disable_regedit.vbs​

6. Click on OK. (see screenshots below)​

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7. Close the elevated command prompt window.​

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OPTION TWO

To Disable Regedit Using a REG File Download

WARNING: Once you disable regedit, you will not be able to enable regedit again through the registry or from a REG file. See OPTION ONE or OPTION FOUR to be able to enable regedit again.

Disable regedit from running silently?​

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1. To Disable Regedit and Allow Silent Mode ​

NOTE: See NOTE at the top about Silent Mode.​

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A) Click the download button below to download the file below.​

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Disable_Registry_No_Silently.reg​

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B) Go to step 3.​

2. To Disable Regedit and Prevent Silent Mode​

NOTE: See NOTE at the top about Silent Mode.​

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A) Click the download button below to download the file below.​

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Disable_Registry_Yes_Silently.reg​

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3. Click on Save, and save the .reg file to the Desktop.​

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4. Right click on the downloaded .reg file and click on Merge.​

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5. Click on Run, Continue (UAC-Vista) or Yes (UAC-Windows 7), Yes, and then OK when prompted.​

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6. When done, you can delete the .reg file (on Desktop).​

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OPTION THREE

To Manually Disable Regedit Using Registry Editor

WARNING: Once you disable regedit and close the registry, you will not be able to enable regedit again through the registry or from a REG file. See OPTION ONE or OPTION FOUR to be able to enable regedit again.

1. Open the Start Menu, then type regedit and press Enter.​

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2. If prompted by UAC, click on Continue (Vista)or Yes (Windows 7).​

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3. In regedit, navigate to the location below. (See screenshot below step 5)​

NOTE: If you do not have System, right click on Polices, click on New and Key, then type System and press Enter.​

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HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System​

4. To Disable Regedit ​

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A) In the right pane, right click on a empty area and click on New and DWORD (32-bit) Value. Type DisableRegistryTools and press Enter. (See screenshot below step 4)​

5. Right click on DisableRegistryTools and click on Modify. (See screenshot below)​

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Disable regedit from running silently?​

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6. To Disable Regedit and Allow Silent Mode ​

NOTE: See NOTE at the top about Silent Mode.​

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A) Type 1 and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 7A)​

7. To Disable Regedit and Prevent Silent Mode ​

NOTE: See NOTE at the top about Silent Mode.​

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A) Type 2 and click on OK.​

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8. Close regedit.​

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OPTION FOUR

Enable or Disable Regedit Using Local Group Policy Editor

1. Open the all users, specific users or groups, or all users except administrators Local Group Policy Editor for how you want this policy applied.​

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2. In the left pane, click on User Configuration, Administrative Templates, and System. (See screenshot below)​

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3. In the right pane, right click on Prevent access to registry editing tools and click on Properties. (See screenshot above)​

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4. To Enable Registry Editor​

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A) Select (dot) Disabled or Not Configured and click on OK. (See screenshot below 5D)​

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B) Go to step 6.​

5. To Disable Regestry Editor​

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A) Select (dot) Enabled. (See screenshot below 5D)​

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Disable regedit from running silently?​

NOTE: See NOTE at the top about Silent Mode.​

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B) To Allow Silent Mode - Select No. (See screenshot below 5D)​

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C) To Prevent Silent Mode - Select Yes. (See screenshot below 5D)​

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D) Click on OK. (See screenshot below)​

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6. Close the Local Group Policy Editor window. Your done​

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Fix a Slow Scan in a Registry Cleaner Program in 64 bit Vista
• How to Add or Remove Registry Editor from the Vista Control Panel
• How to Use the Registry Editor in Vista and other Techniques
• How to Find Text in the Vista Registry Editor - Regedit
• How to Backup and Restore the Registry in Windows 7 and Vista
• How to Enable or Disable the Command Prompt in Vista and Windows 7

 

[bruce1x]

I have been running circles on this, but after reading the tutorial I finally figured out how to get into the regedit. to change the words from show to open. Guess what? I can now open the pps attachments and the NASA pictures are great.
Thanks amillion time from a novice.
bruce1x

 

[Brink]

Your welcome Bruce1x,

I'm glad it helped you with your problem. Thank you for the feedback.

Shawn

 

[meaintsmart]

Thanks so much! I was looking for a tutorial!

 

[Brink]

Your welcome MeAintSmart,

Welcome to Vista Forums.

Shawn

 

[kanicho1]

I have got to the bottom of the article and have been unable to find-

1 Download reg_enable.vbs to download. Could some kind person tell me where it is?
Cheers Annie

 

[Brink]

Hi Annie,

Welcome to Vista Forums.

You will just need to click on the link below that step to download the file from that site under Attachments there.

Shawn

 

[angolanman]

thanx for the post, it really helped me, considering that a virus did this to my system, desabled the access do reg edit, now everything seems to be ok

thanx again

 

[Brink]

Your welcome Angolanman, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Be sure to run a thorough antivirus scan and a spyware and adware scan to help make sure your computer is clean again.

Shawn

 

[Tot]

EXCELLENT TUTORIAL; YOU'RE THE MAN! I went with the stronger 'Disable_Registry_Yes_Silently.reg' option and I was encouraged to see that CCleaner no longer finds ANY registry issues; THIS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. One MINOR issue (and I stress MINOR) is that while my Administrator User can no longer enter the Registry Editor, Standard Users still can? ie. Standard Users can still read but not change the registry - I am happy enough with this situation, and don't expect you to fix, but I would value your observations on this point.

 

[Brink]

Hi Tot, and welcome to Vista Forums.

That is strange. Did you see if restarting the computer after disabling the registry will still allow a Standard user to open and read the registry?

Shawn

 

[Tot]

Hi Shawn, thanks for your quick response; Yes, I did reboot before testing. Prior to applying this fix I had the situation where calling regedit.exe under Administrator User caused UAC prompt to continue, whereas Standard User never received any prompt; this never seemed right to me - I can't now recall whether this situation always existed. Post your fix nothing has changed with respect to UAC prompts. I run with BullGuard anti-virus software (full scan every day), Windows Firewall and regularly run Ad-Aware, Spybot and GRC's ShieldsUP! 'All Service Ports' scans. Any ideas?

 

[Brink]

Tot,

That is strange. It sounds like your Standard account had it's UAC privilege level elevated somehow. The tutorial still prevents access to all users though.

Look under the Manual Way in Method Two of this tutorial below. In that same registry location, look to see if ConsentPromptBehaviorUser still has a 1 there and not a 0. Modify it to 1 if not.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/80938-user-account-control-uac-elevate-privilege-level.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Tot]

Hi Shawn,

confirmed ConsentPromptBehaviourAdmin=2 & ConsentPromptBehaviourUser=1. I did not need to change. I have never tried to by-pass UAC in the past as I accept that security comes at a cost.

I have tried taking ownership of regedit.exe, removing User permissions altogether & resetting ownership to 'NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller' (not approved of I know but I thought it worth a shot) ~ regedit properties ended up looking like old DOS utility, Publisher unknown and was totally unuseable; restored and I'm now back to square one.

Thanks again for your input.

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Tot,

LOL, I gues you found a way to totally disable regedit.

The main thing is that this tutorial will still prevent access to the registry for all users. I'm still not sure how or why your Standard account was behaving that way though, but that's a completely separate issue.

 

[treaclewader]

Please, Please, Please

.exe are all opening with noebook need to edit reg to sort it out!

cannot change the name or regedit to .com access denied or cannot find file

dont know how to open command as administrator i dont have that option (i am admin though)
Method 2 goes as far as cd /d %userprofile%\desktop and then says invalid switch - /d

someone please help

 

[Brink]

Hello Treaclewader, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Are you opening the command prompt as descibed in steps 2 to 4? This will open a elevated command prompt.

Shawn

 

[treaclewader]

Shawn,

When i right click on command prompt on the start menu there is no option to run as administrator, i dont know why.
And even so, when i open it up its still opens in notepad. However the command out of the system 32 file does work but cd /d %userprofile%\desktop returns invalid switch

Rob

 

[mansrm81]

treaclewader you can also go into the properties and in the shortcut tab click on advanced check the run as admin.

 

[Brink]

Shawn,

When i right click on command prompt on the start menu there is no option to run as administrator, i dont know why.
And even so, when i open it up its still opens in notepad. However the command out of the system 32 file does work but cd /d %userprofile%\desktop returns invalid switch

Rob

Rob,

I would say that your computer may have been infected by some form of malware. I would recommend that you do a thorough antivirus and spyware scan to help be sure it is clean.


This link below will show you how to fix the .exe file extension. If you still do not get access to regedit, or the link's instructions will not work for you, then try a System Restore at boot (Method Two) using a restore point dated before you had this problem.

http://www.winhelponline.com/articl...-associating-it-with-another-application.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn