Free Registry Tool
The safer way to import .REG files. Load one or more .REG files, compare them with your current registry, and import only the parts you want.
Version 0.0.2.8, an early alpha. Check the differences carefully before and after an import, and create a Windows restore point first.
What It Does
Double-clicking a .REG file imports all of it, with no preview. RegMerge shows the differences first.
See exactly what a .REG file would change, or whether it differs from your registry at all, then apply some of it or all of it.
Compare your registry with an export from another PC, or from your own PC at an earlier time, to find likely causes of problems.
Load multiple .REG files at once and review their changes together.
Safety
RegMerge writes an undo .REG file for every set of changes it applies.
Every change and every error is logged.
Parsing errors may exist, and some safety features are not fully tested yet. Create a restore point before using it, and reload the .REG file afterwards to check the import.
Background
The Windows registry is simply a store of persistent data, mostly settings. Leftover keys are benign: a typical registry holds millions of values, so even thousands of leftovers make no real difference.
A hive is a broad store of registry data, backed by a file on disk. One hive holds settings for all users of the PC (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE), another for the current user (HKEY_CURRENT_USER).
.REG files are Registry Editor export files. To create one for a backup or a comparison, select a key in RegEdit, right-click it and choose Export.
Not a Registry Cleaner
Registry damage, not registry size, is what forces Windows reinstalls, and registry cleaners are often the cause. RegMerge works the other way: It adds and replaces keys and values to put things right, instead of trimming the registry down.
Registry problems usually come from registry cleaners, installs and uninstalls (especially damaged file associations), tweaking utilities, manual edits, malware and disk corruption.
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Bitsum Technologies
Independent Windows software since 2002. We build novel solutions to software performance and automation challenges.