Can't Access Your Registry Editor? Here's How to Fix It!

If you find yourself frequently working with the computer, you may know that the Registry Editor is an essential tool. When your computer is infected with a virus, spyware application, Trojan horse, or other type of malware, you can use the Registry Editor to solve many problems. Viruses usually alter your registry, so using the Registry Editor is essential in undoing any damages.

You can run the Registry Editor by clicking Start and then Run. On the Run window, you will then have to type regedit. When you type that command, the Registry Editor should run. However, the Registry Editor may be disabled. Many virus programmers write codes to disable the Registry Editor, making it more difficult to remove or delete the virus..

Re-enabling the Registry Editor is not a difficult task. You can use the Group Policy Editor on Windows XP Professional. You can do this by first clicking the Start button located at the bottom-left corner of the desktop. Now you need to click the Run button on the Start menu. On the Run window, type gpedit.msc and click OK. When the Group Policy Editor window opens, click User Configuration. Then you need to click Administrative Templates and then System. Look in the Settings window and find the option labeled Prevent Access to Registry Editing Tools. Double-click this option to change it. Uncheck the option Disable or Not Configured to enable the Registry Editor. Click OK when you have done this. Restart the computer and try opening the Registry Editor.

You can also re-enable the Registry Editor by using a Visual Basic Script created by Doug Knox. You can download the VBScript from here. Save the script to your desktop for easy access. After the download, double-click the icon to run the script. The VBScript will be installed into the registry. Restart the computer and try running the Registry Editor because it should be working now.

Many worms and Trojan horses will alter the shellopencommand registry entry. This will initiate a virus every time you try to run an EXE file. Since the Registry Editor is an executable file, it will also be affected. To fix this you will need to download a script from Symantec's website. Download the file from here and save it to your desktop. Right-click the icon on your desktop and click Install. When the patch has finished installing, reboot your computer.

And you are done!

****CAUTION!!!***
The Group Policy Editor is an incredibly powerful tool - only use it if you have a great understanding of its workings!!!