In certain circumstances to solve all kind of problems there is a chance that you might be forced to make changes to your Windows registry.

Any unwanted changes cannot be undone and may permanently harm your computer. Usually articles never mention that a change can be vital or how to create a backup rather just provide a warning/notice "You use the Windows Registration Editor at your own risk"

This short blog post provides some simple steps on how to create a backup of your Windows Registry before you may want to change anything.

Create a backup file of your Windows Registry

1. Go to Start > Run.
   Note: Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 (R2) users can open the Run… dialog with the keyboard shortcut [Windows key + R].
2. Type regedit and click OK.
3. Right-click on Computer and select Export.
4. Specify a location to save the file and give it a name. For example, C:\Windows_Registry_Backup\BackupNo1.reg
   In addition as a backup you can also save/move the *.reg file on an external USB drive.
5. If anything goes wrong, double-click on this file to restore your current Windows Registry settings.