Registry Editing disabled by Administrator

Registry Editor IconThere are few reasons why Registry Editor gets disabled, and when you attempt to open Registry Editor when it is disabled, you get a message box that reads “Registry Editing has been disabled by your Administrator”. Few Trojans are made specifically to disable registry editor and few others are made in order not to revoke it from Startup (CurrentVersion/Run). If you ever up with this problem, be sure to first check your PC for Viruses/Trojans. I’ve already blogged on basic security which you can find here. Then proceed with the following solutions.

Using Group Policy Editor

This solution does not work for Windows XP Home Users. If you are an XP Home User, skip to the Script method. To enable Registry Editor using Group Policy Editor,

  • Open Group Policy Editor by typing ‘gpedit.msc’ in the RUN (Start->Run) dialog box
  • In the Local Group Policy Editor window, expand ‘User Configuration’ by clicking the button on the left of ‘User Configuration’
  • Next, expand ‘Administrative Templates’
  • Click on ‘System’
  • On the right pane, you should be noticing ‘Prevent access to registry editing tools’. Double-click it.
  • Switch it’s status to either ‘Not Configured’ or ‘Disabled’ (radio buttons)
  • Once done, click OK

Using a VBS script

This is a Visual Basic Script by Doug Knox. The script toggles the state of DisableRegistryTools DWORD in HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System and you can use this script to disable as well as enable Registry Editor. When you enable Registry Editor, you’ll have to reboot your PC for changes to take effect. It’s not mandatory when you disable Registry Editor. The script is user-friendly and you’ll be prompted when restart is required.

  • Download the script
  • Execute it
  • You’ll prompted if Registry Editor is enabled/disabled
  • If required, log off/restart your PC
  • Done

Try if Registry Editor works now – Start->Run, type Regedit and click OK

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