Dangers of running a Windows registry cleanup The Windows system will create a copy of the registry when the system shuts down. You can close the Registry Editor by clicking File and selecting Exit, or simply clicking Close in the upper right corner of the Registry Editor dialog. These are details that even an experienced IT administrator or user may not know. There are rare exceptions, such as correcting known damaged or incorrect entries, but this would require an understanding of precisely what needs to be changed, and what the correct entries must be. Once you add key value pairs to the registry, you should generally not touch those entries. The big problem with this kind of process, however, is that manual changes to the registry are almost never required. The Windows Registry Editor in Windows 10 allows you to review, change, and delete registry entries. The Windows Registry Editor will then open, allowing you to review, change or delete registry entries (Figure 1). Type 'regedit' into the search dialog in the Windows 10 taskbar, and then click the Registry Editor app that appears in the search results. You can access the registry database with the native Windows Registry Editor tool. The registry can hold hundreds of thousands of entries.

docx files, Windows would detail that selection in the registry so that it 'remembers' the default application. For example, if a user selects an application as the default program for a specific file type, such as selecting Microsoft Word to open. It is a huge configuration file that Windows uses to detail interactions with hardware, software and users.

In the simplest terms, the Windows registry is a database of settings and selections. Do not change or save any changes to a registry unless you are absolutely certain of the change.

Improper changes to the registry can result in system instability and other functional problems. Warning: Before you attempt a Windows registry cleanup, it's important to note that the registry is a critical part of Windows systems. As a desktop administrator or Windows user, you should learn how the Windows registry works and review the best strategies for protecting and potentially optimizing a Windows registry.

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