How to edit remote registry

Posted on by trailmax

When you are loaded up from WinXP boot CD, you can edit registry on existing installation on the HDD.

  1. Start Regedit.
  2. Go to HKEY_USERS
  3. Select File -> Load Hive.  Point to C:\Windows\System32\Config. Inside this folder select one of the files i.e software, SAM, system etc.
  4. Type new name for the folder to mount the remote registry… like REMOTE_System or REMOTE_Software.
  5. Now remote registry is loaded into regedit and you can change things there just like in normal registry.
  6. After done changes, you MUST unload the hives: File -> Unload Hive.

Check HKEY_USERS\Remote_Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Shell entry must be pointing to Explorer.exe.

Userint should point to C:\Windows\System32\Userinit.exe