Delete a registry key or value

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To delete a registry key or value

Caution

Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on your computer.

Notes

To open Registry Editor, click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
You must have appropriate permissions to make changes to a registry key. To maintain security when making changes to a registry key for which you need administrative credentials, log in as a member of the Users group and run Regedit as an administrator by right-clicking the Regedit icon, clicking Run as, and clicking an account in the local Administrators group. The Regedit icon does not appear by default from the Start menu. To access the icon, open the Windows or WINNT folder on your computer.
You can delete keys and values from your registry. However, you cannot delete a predefined key (such as HKEY_CURRENT_USER) or change the name of a predefined key.
If you make a mistake that results in your computer not starting properly, you can restore the registry. For instructions, see Related Topics.

Your server might function differently based on the version and edition of the operating system that is installed, your account permissions, and your menu settings. For more information, see Viewing Help on the Web.