Preparing to Edit the Registry Even though this book is dedicated to the topic of registry editing, remember that an incorrect modification or the accidental deletion of an element of the registry element can result in rendering your system unbootable | Preparing to Edit the Registry Even though this book is dedicated to the topic of registry editing remember that an incorrect modification or the accidental deletion of an element of the registry element can result in rendering your system unbootable. Before you start editing the registry pay close heed to the following recommendations Microsoft doesn t provide any official support for users who want to solve their own problems by editing the registry. However you can get additional information and even some advice by subscribing to Microsoft technical-support services. Modify the registry only when you know that all of the information related to the registry keys values and the restrictions for devices and applications that you intend to troubleshoot is correct. Start editing the registry only once all attempts to set or modify a certain function using the Control Panel applets or administrative utilities have failed. Note that using the Device Manager is the best way to modify hardware settings since this tool won t let you delete any of the required registry keys or make other critical errors. Registry editors don t safeguard you against this type of mistake. When you start the registry editors remember that these tools are incapable of undoing or redoing your actions. Any changes that you make will be saved automatically and almost immediately . If you make an error the only method of quickly undoing a change is to import the previously created registry file before rebooting the system. Tip Never introduce a large number of changes at once. Always try to introduce only one modification per registry-editing session and reboot the system when you re done. This will allow you to test the changes you ve made. If you have made a number of changes during a single registry-editing session and as a result your system becomes unbootable it will be difficult to identify which of the modifications is causing the problem. When you are sure that the modification to the .