How to search the Windows registry more effectively

When used carefully, the Windows registry can be a powerful tool for making changes to Windows on your computer. But it’s not the easiest thing to navigate, and finding individual entries in the registry editor can be confusing.

Fortunately, there’s a much easier and more powerful way to search the Windows registry.

What is the Windows registry?

The Windows registry is a database of settings and configurations for many parts of the Windows operating system. It was introduced in Windows 3.1 and has been part of the operating system ever since.

When a new program is installed, a new entry called Key is added to the registry. Within the key are values, a bit like files in a folder. Values ​​can include the location of the program, its version number, configuration of settings, and much more information.

It is not advisable to make any changes to the registry unless you are sure what you are doing. An incorrect change to an important key or value can cause your computer to crash or even stop working altogether. It is more likely that the software to which the value is linked will become corrupted.

You can do many useful things in the registry if you are careful and follow the advice of a trusted source like MakeUseOf. To learn more, read our beginner’s guide to the Windows registry and learn how to use the registry safely.

Download and set up RegScanner

One of the biggest problems with working in the registry is finding the keys and values ​​you want to edit. You can use the Find function, but it doesn’t always work if you don’t know the exact value name.

RegScanner is a small, lightweight utility that allows you to scan for keys and values ​​using multiple variables. You can search by value type, e.g. B. DWORD or SZ, or even by the date the value was modified. You can download RegScanner from the NirSoft website. Various versions are available including an x64 version.

Download the version you want and unzip the zipped folder. RegScanner is a portable utility. It doesn’t need to be installed before you can use it. Just double-click the RegScanner executable to get started.

RegScanner will open with the Scan Options pane open. This can seem confusing at first, but it’s not as difficult to use as it first appears.

Scan the Windows registry with RegScanner

RegScanner offers you several ways to search for keys and values ​​in the registry. You can search for specific values ​​or values ​​that have a specific property, e.g. B. Data length.

Search by name

Searching for the exact name of the value is the easiest way to find registry entries. Normally, when searching for a value name, the results should only contain a single element.

1. Open RegScanner and click on the New scan button if the scan options panel does not open automatically.
2. In which Locate the String field, enter the name of the value you want to find. Example: “StuckRects3”.
3. change that matching field to Exact match or Registration item contains one or more words.
4. If you’re not sure whether it’s the name of a value or a key, leave all the options in the Look at the field selected.

5. At the bottom of the scan options, select the base key (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, etc.) where you think the value is located. If you are not sure, you can select all.
6. click scan and wait for the results to appear in the main pane. An exact name search should return only one result. You can double-click it to open it in Registry Editor.

You can easily search for other data types, e.g. B. for a DWORD value or even for a complete string. Just change the Matching field to the data type you are using.

Search by modification date

If you know when a value or key was last changed, perhaps when you installed software, you can refine your search by date.

1. In the scan options, enter your search term if you have one. If this is not the case and you only want to find all values ​​that have changed in a date range, leave the field blank.
2. There are two time modifiers to choose from in the time filter panel: Show only in the last and Show only within the specified area.

3. Choose the time filter that suits your needs and set the time or date range as needed. Then click the Scan button.
4. When you find the value or key you are looking for, you can double-click it to open it in Registry Editor.

Note that even searching for keys or values ​​that have changed in the last few minutes can still return hundreds of results, especially if you’ve been using your computer during that time. Even a small amount of information entered into the search box will reduce the number of results.

Export registry values ​​as REG files

Once you’ve searched for and found the registry value you want, you can simply export it as a REG file. You can use this REG file later, share it or copy it to another computer. When a .reg file is run, it overwrites the corresponding value in the registry.

1. In RegScanner, browse and find the value you want to export as a .reg file.
2. Select the value and click either Export Selected Items button or File > Export Selected Items. You can also use the shortcut Ctrl + E.
3. Choose the export location and enter a file name that you will remember.

You can also save keys and values ​​as a text file. However, this is just a record or to view the data it contains – you cannot use the text file in the same way as the .reg file.

Using searches in Registry Editor

There is a limited search tool built into the registry editor. You can search by value, date, or key name only. It also doesn’t return a list of results like RegScanner does. If the exact value you enter isn’t found, nothing is returned.

1. To use the search function, open the registry editor and click To edit.
2. Choose Find from the menu and enter the search term in the field.
3. You can choose from key, Valuesand Data or look for all three.

If multiple values ​​have the same name, you can press F3 to find the next one if the first result isn’t the one you want.

A better way to search the Windows registry

As long as you’re careful and understand the changes you’re making, the Windows registry can be a powerful tool. You can use it to make changes to apps and features in Windows that might not be available in the default settings. Finding keys and values ​​isn’t always very easy, but by using RegScanner, scanning the registry is a lot less frustrating.

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