Enable Registry Editor disabled by Administrator or Virus

Registry Editor is a useful utility in Windows which allows users to easily change advanced Windows settings by altering registry keys present in a hierarchical arrangement called the Windows Registry. Despite being such a powerful tool, Registry Editor is not totally error-proof.

A simple virus infection is all it takes to render it useless. Or, there are times when your administrator has actually disabled registry editing. When you try to open the Registry Editor on one such computer, you are likely to receive the "Registry editing has been disabled by your administrator" error. Due to this error, it is impossible to remove this restriction using the Registry Editor itself.

Windows Registry Editor

This article suggests some workarounds for re-enabling Registry editing in a computer running Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10.

Enable Registry Editor using the Group Policy Editor

1. Click on Start. Go to Run. Alternatively, use Windows key+R keyboard shortcut to directly launch the Run dialog box.
2. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
3. Navigate to User Configuration/Administrative Templates/System.
4. In the work area, double click on "Prevent Access to registry editing tools".
5. In the popup window, encircle Disabled and click on OK.
6. Registry Editor will be immediately accessible. If it is not, restart your PC.

Note: Group Policy Editor is not available on home editions of Windows.

Getting access to Registry editing

Related: Enable Task Manager disabled by Administrator or Virus

Enable Regedit by simply running a CMD Command

1. Open Notepad.
2. Copy the code given below and paste it.

reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" /t Reg_dword /v DisableRegistryTools /f /d 0

3. Click on File>Save As>select Save as type to All Files and save the file as EnableRegistry.bat or *.bat.
4. Run this file as an Administrator by right clicking on it and selecting Run as Administrator if you use Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 or Windows Vista. In Windows XP, simply open the file from an Administrator account. The Command Prompt will become visible for some time and then disappear. This indicates successful execution.
5. Registry Editor will be immediately accesible. If it is not, restart your PC.

Enabling Registry Editor using UnHookExec.inf from Symantec

Symantec has created a small .inf file which can be installed to remove restrictions on modifying registry keys at the click of a mouse button. Most viruses, spywares, trojans or worms normally affect the shell\open\command keys which allows them to run each time when a file of specific type is executed. UnHookExec.inf not only enables Registry editing but also removes such associations.

Just copy the code given below in Notepad, click on File>Save As>select Save as type to All Files and save the file as UnHookExec.inf (any file name with .inf extension.)

Install the file by right clicking on it and selecting install. Installing the file will not show any popup or notice box.

[Version]
Signature="$Chicago$"
Provider=Symantec

[DefaultInstall]
AddReg=UnhookRegKey

[UnhookRegKey]
HKLM, Software\CLASSES\batfile\shell\open\command,,,"""%1"" %*"
HKLM, Software\CLASSES\comfile\shell\open\command,,,"""%1"" %*"
HKLM, Software\CLASSES\exefile\shell\open\command,,,"""%1"" %*"
HKLM, Software\CLASSES\piffile\shell\open\command,,,"""%1"" %*"
HKLM, Software\CLASSES\regfile\shell\open\command,,,"regedit.exe ""%1"""
HKLM, Software\CLASSES\scrfile\shell\open\command,,,"""%1"" %*"
HKCU, Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System,DisableRegistryTools,0x00000020,0

Registry Editor will be immediately accesible. If it is not, restart your PC.

Visual Basic Script to Enable/ Disable Registry Editor

Doug Knox has created a Visual Basic script which allows users to easily enable and disable the Registry Editor. Just download regedit tools.zip, extract the VBS file and double click on it. This script reverses the current state of the Registry Editor. If registry editing is set to enabled, this script will disable it and if it is disabled, it will enable it.

If the above link does not work, copy the code given below in Notepad, click on File>Save As>select Save as type to All Files and save the file as Registry Editor.vbs or *.vbs.

Option Explicit
Dim WSHShell, n, MyBox, p, t, mustboot, errnum, vers
Dim enab, disab, jobfunc, itemtype
Set WSHShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
p = "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\"
p = p & "DisableRegistryTools"
itemtype = "REG_DWORD"
mustboot = "Log off and back on, or restart your pc to" & vbCR & "effect the changes"
enab = "ENABLED"
disab = "DISABLED"
jobfunc = "Registry Editing Tools are now "
t = "Confirmation"
Err.Clear
On Error Resume Next
n = WSHShell.RegRead (p)
On Error Goto 0
errnum = Err.Number
if errnum <> 0 then
WSHShell.RegWrite p, 0, itemtype
End If
If n = 0 Then
n = 1
WSHShell.RegWrite p, n, itemtype
Mybox = MsgBox(jobfunc & disab & vbCR & mustboot, 4096, t)
ElseIf n = 1 then
n = 0
WSHShell.RegWrite p, n, itemtype
Mybox = MsgBox(jobfunc & enab & vbCR & mustboot, 4096, t)
End If

Note: This VBS file is not supported on Windows 10.

After running the VBS file, if Registry editing is not enabled, restart your PC.