• REG file extension

    REG format files open special programs. There are 2 types of REG formats, each of which opens different programs. To open desired type format, study the file descriptions and download one of the proposed programs.

    How to open a REG file

    Stores the registration key, serial number and other user registration information for specific program. Created upon completion of registration. It is referenced by the program when opened to identify the user, but this file must not be opened manually.

    Download the program for the format

    Updates on startup Windows Registry. Standard REG files can be created to modify various aspects of Windows. To create your own own file register updates, follow these instructions:

    1. Run Regedit (Select Run from the Start menu, type "Regedit")

    2. Select the register section you need to change

    3. From the File menu, select Export

    4. Select the "Selected Branch" option in the Export Range at the bottom of the window.

    5. Save the file with the extension ".reg".

    Note: Manually updating the Windows registry is a more advanced process and should only be attempted if you know exactly what to do. Incorrectly updating the registry can cause Windows errors.

    How to open a REG (Registry File) file

    In this note we will deal with the question - what are files with the extension reg, what they are for and how they should be used.

    Files with the extension reg are service and are used to make changes to .

    For example, when data from it is exported to a reg file. At their core, these are ordinary text files, the contents of which can be viewed with any text editor, for example, standard program Notebook. Theoretically, such a file can be written manually, but this is done extremely rarely.

    In order to open the reg file and view its contents, you need to call the context menu by right-clicking on it. Next from the menu you need to select the option “ Change».

    The program will open Notebook and in it you will see the contents of the reg file:

    But here you need to take into account the following point - if you yourself exported the Windows registry to a reg file, then it can be quite large.

    For example, in my case the size of the reg file was 104 MB (I exported the entire registry to a file). Opening such a file can take quite a lot of time, so when creating a registry backup, it is still preferable to export only the registry branch in which you intend to make changes. In this case, the reg file will be created faster when exporting data, and the import of data will be faster when restoring it from a backup copy.

    As mentioned above, although reg files are essentially text files, no one works with them in text editors. They are usually used either to make changes to some settings or registry settings, or to create a backup copy of the Windows registry.

    To enter data from a reg file into the registry, just run it, that is, double-click the left mouse button on the file. A message will appear warning you that these actions are unsafe:

    If you are confident in the file, then you can safely press the button "Yes". All data from the reg file will be imported into the registry. If this file was not created by you, then I recommend that you make a complete backup copy registry In this case, you can avoid a lot of problems if something goes wrong.

    Reg file structure
    Chebotarev Igor

    Knowledge of the Windows registry will not be complete without the ability to write a reg file. Let's start with what it is. A reg file is a file that has a specific structure and contains information that can be imported into the registry. If work with the registry editor was blocked (you can read how to do this in the article), then the most the easy way editing the registry will involve creating and importing a reg file (of course, you can go into DOS, into protected mode, and use other programs, but this is much more complicated, and most importantly longer).
    Reg files have certain structural requirements. Let's start with the fact that in the first line of the file you must enter
    REGEDIT4
    Please note that the letters must be large. Apart from this, there should be nothing in the first line. There MUST be an empty line after this text. Then, the registry section is indicated in which you need to register or change some parameters. The section title must be enclosed in square brackets[...]. Below are the parameters that need to be added, one parameter per line. If you need to make changes in several sections, then you should leave one blank line between the last parameter of the previous section and the name of the next section. Might be a little confusing, but here's what it should look like:
    REGEDIT4
    "param1"="znachenie1"
    "param2"="znachenei2"
    "param3"="znachenie3"
    "param_1"="znachenie_1"
    The last line in the file must be BLANK. Once you have created such a file, simply run it like regular program, you will be prompted to make changes to the registry, and after a positive response, the information from the file will be imported. Windows will report the import results in the window that appears after this.
    Now a few words about the parameters that can be added. As you may have noticed, the example above adds parameters using lines like "param1"="znachenie1". Those. This adds a STRING parameter with the name "param1" and the value "znachenie1". But there are also binary and DWORD parameters. The recording format for adding them is slightly different. For DWORD type parameters the string is used
    "param"=dword:XXXXXXXX
    Here "param" is the name of the parameter, dword - indicates the type of this parameter (the letters must be small!) and after the colon there is a value of eight digits in hexadecimal (!) format. However, most DWORD parameters have a value of either 0 or 1, which means you should write either 00000000 or 00000001 instead of XXXXXXXXX. Spaces are not allowed in the line.
    To add a binary parameter, the recording format is slightly different:
    "param"=hex:XX,XX,XX,....
    Now I will decipher this line. Well, everything is clear with the name of the parameter, after the "=" sign there is a hex, i.e. it is indicated that this will be a binary parameter, then they go hexadecimal numbers, separated by a comma. For example, if you need to add a binary parameter equal to "be 00 00 00", then you write the line
    "param"=hex:be,00,00,00
    There are "Default" parameters in the registry. To assign them some value through a reg file, you need to add the following line:
    @="znachenie"
    Here the @ symbol indicates that we are assigning the value of the parameter to "Default". Note that it is not enclosed in quotation marks.
    Now I will give an example of a simple reg file that registers the site that installs it in the registry home page in Internet Explorer:
    REGEDIT4
    "Start Page" = "http://www.site/"
    In my opinion, everything is very simple and clear. But reg files have one peculiarity: they cannot be used to delete parameters in the registry, although you can delete an entire section. To remove a section from the registry, place the “-” symbol in square brackets before its name. This is what it looks like:
    [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\QuickSoft\QuickStart]
    Thanks to this entry, the "QuickStart" subsection from the "QuickSoft" section will be removed with all its contents. However, what about the parameters? After all, they cannot be deleted. Thus, setting restrictions on access to various settings Windows shell, as described in the article, is done using DWORD type parameters. In this case, if the parameter value is 1 (00000001), then the limitation is enabled, and if it is 0 (00000000), then the limitation is disabled. Thus, it is not necessary to delete the parameters; it is enough to simply assign them values ​​equal to zero.
    Note regarding deletion made by Nikolai Basmanov:
    Using REG files you can delete parameters. Syntax:
    REGEDIT4
    "xxx"=-

    Here, perhaps, is all the basic information on the structure of reg files. I also recommend trying to export some sections from the registry (not very large with small nesting) in order to once again look at the file structure. It never hurts. Now you can easily make changes to the registry using reg files.

    This article outlines basic principles work with Windows registry, knowledge of which will be useful to you in setting up operating system using registry tweaks.

    Terminology

    Before we get down to business, we need to define the terminology. I'm using official Microsoft terminology, so the terms are fairly consistent with Registry Editor items.

    Figure 1 - Registry Editor

    As you can see, there are no “branches” or “keys” here. Now to the point.

    REG file

    REG file is text file with the REG extension, compiled in a specific format.

    REG file format

    Below is an example of a REG file that disables the menu recent documents.

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 ;Disable the menu of recent documents "NoRecentDocsMenu"=hex:01,00,00,00

    Creating a REG file

    Creating a REG file is very simple. Copy the code to any text editor(eg Notepad). Press CTRL+S and save the file with any name and extension.reg, putting both in quotes to avoid txt extension.

    Figure 2 - Creating a REG file

    REG file syntax

    • Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00— the file header, which is an integral part of it. You can also see REGEDIT4 as a header - this is Windows format 98 / NT 4.0, which, however, will also be understood by newer operating systems Windows systems. More information about the differences in formats can be found on the JSO FAQ website (in English).
    • ;Disable recent documents menu- comment. All lines starting with ; (semicolon) represent comments.
    • is a registry key. Graphically (in the Registry Editor) it represents the path to the parameter. In REG file format, sections are always enclosed in square brackets. In this example, the Explorer (sub)key belongs to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER key.
    • "NoRecentDocsMenu"=hex:01,00,00,00— registry parameter and its meaning. Depending on the value of the parameter, the behavior of the operating system or object changes. Many parameters can be configured in graphical interface operating system, but not all. In such cases, registry editors, tweakers, or REG files are used to change the parameter.

    A REG file can contain multiple registry keys and settings, but the header is used only at the very beginning.

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 ;Disable reboot in case of BSOD "AutoReboot"=dword:00000000 ;Disable notification on the welcome screen about unread messages "MessageExpiryDays"=dword:00000000

    This REG file was obtained by exporting from the registry editor regedit.exe. Using REG files, you can make changes to system registry- This operation is called importing registry settings.

    Exporting registry settings

    Exporting registry settings is an easy task. Typically, settings are exported before changes are made to the registry ( backup), or in order to create a REG file for subsequent import into the registry of another computer or during an automatic system installation.

    You can export registry settings in a variety of ways.

    Windows Registry Editor (regedit.exe)

    Windows OS includes a program for editing the registry - regedit.exe. Since it is located in the system directory, to run it in command line You don’t need to specify the full path (for example, the following sequence will suffice: Start - Run - regedit - OK).

    In order to export a registry key, just right-click on it and select from context menu team Export(in Windows 2000 this command is located in the menu File).

    Other registry editors

    There are a great many programs for making changes to the system registry, which also have the ability to export settings. If you often work with the registry, then you will probably need a program that has an address bar. IN address bar you can paste the registry key you copied (from an article or from a forum post) and quickly go to the required parameter. An example of such a program is RegWorks.

    Command line

    From the command line, you can export registry settings using the command REG EXPORT, which has the following syntax.

    REG EXPORT Full path to the registry key in the form: ROOT\Subkey (for local computer only). Root partition. Values: [ HKLM | HKCU | HKCR | HKU | HKCC]. The full path to the registry key in the selected root partition. The name of the disk file to export. Examples: REG EXPORT HKLM\Software\MyCo\MyApp AppBkUp.reg Exports all subsections and parameter values ​​of the MyApp section to the file AppBkUp.reg

    Importing registry settings

    There are several ways to import registry settings.

    Running a REG file using the GUI

    This is the easiest way. It consists of running a REG file containing the necessary parameters by double-clicking or from the command line.

    Double click

    As trivial as it sounds, you can make changes to the registry by double-clicking on the REG file. However, first the system will clarify whether you really want to do this. If the answer is positive, changes will be made.

    Figure 3 - The system requests confirmation to make changes.

    Because of this query, this method is not suitable for importing settings into the registry during automatic installation systems. But there are other ways.

    Command line

    To import REG files from the command line, there is a command REGEDIT. By typing at the command line

    REGEDIT C:\hklm.reg

    You will get exactly the same dialog box as when double click mice. You can suppress the appearance of the dialog box by running the command with the parameter /S. This method is most often used during automatic installation of Windows.

    REGEDIT /S C:\hklm.reg

    REG ADD command

    Using the command REG ADD You can also import registry settings. It is convenient because commands for importing parameters can be included in batch file, which also performs other tasks (i.e. there is no need for an additional REG file). For example, this command is often used to import registry values ​​into the RunOnceEx key and then install programs the first time you log on. The command syntax is quite simple - see it yourself by running the command on the command line REG ADD.

    INF file

    You can also import settings into the registry using INF files. Their general syntax is somewhat more complex than that of REG files, but writing directly to the registry is quite simple. Below is an example from the Msgina addon

    Signature="$Windows NT$" Msgina OptionDesc="Msgina" Tip="GINA Login Library" Modes=0,1,2,3 AddReg=Msgina.AddReg HKLM,"Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System\ Shutdown","ShowHibernateButton",0x10001,1 HKLM,"Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System\Shutdown","HibernateAsButton",0x10001,1

    Note. More information about INF files can be found in .

    We hope that we helped you solve the problem with the REG file. If you don't know where you can download an application from our list, click on the link (this is the name of the program) - you will find more detailed information regarding the place from where to download the safe installation version required application.

    A visit to this page should help you answer these or similar questions specifically:

    • How to open a file with a REG extension?
    • How to convert REG file to another format?
    • What is the REG file format extension?
    • What programs support the REG file?

    If, after viewing the materials on this page, you still have not received a satisfactory answer to any of the questions presented above, this means that the information presented here about the REG file is incomplete. Contact us using the contact form and write what information you did not find.

    What else could cause problems?

    There may be more reasons why you cannot open a REG file (not just the lack of an appropriate application).
    Firstly- REG file may not be linked correctly (incompatible) with installed application for its maintenance. In this case, you need to change this connection yourself. To do this, right-click on the REG file that you want to edit, click the option "Open with" and then select the program you installed from the list. After this action, problems with opening the REG file should completely disappear.
    Secondly- the file you want to open may simply be damaged. In this case, it would be best to find a new version of it, or download it again from the same source (perhaps for some reason in the previous session the download of the REG file did not finish and it could not be opened correctly).

    Do you want to help?

    If you have additional information about the REG file extension, we will be grateful if you share it with users of our site. Use the form below and send us your information about the REG file.

    Read more: