Run an Antivirus Scan
Malware/virus-infected systems suffer from multiple issues including the problem where Windows cannot access the registry editor. Running a full system scan for the Malware/viruses in the safe mode may solve the problem.
There are many tools to perform removal of Malware but we recommend to use Malwarebytes.
After scanning and clearing the system with Malwarebytes, restart the system in normal mode and check if the Registry Editor has started to work.
Run DISM Command to Repair the System Image
Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) is a Windows Utility to recover system files that could not be recovered by the SFC.
See instructions (here).
After running the DISM command check if you can access Registry Editor.
Change Environmental Variables
Environment variables contain all the information regarding the system environment. Every process of Windows OS has a set of environment variables and their values. If Environmental Variable is wrongly configured, then you will suffer from this variable. Editing the Value may solve the problem.
Open the Run command window with PowerShell
Wondering how to open Run from PowerShell in Windows 10 and Windows 7? First, start PowerShell. Then, copy/paste or type in the following command:
(New-Object -ComObject “Shell.Application”).FileRun()
Copy Regedit from Other Sources
Corrupted Registry Editor Exe file can be the cause the Windows cannot find the regedit.exe. Replacing the Exe file may solve the problem.
We can use Windows.old folder for this purpose.
- Boot your system in Safe Mode.
- Open Your system Drive usually it is C drive.
- Find and open Windows.old folder.
- In the Windows.old folder, open the folder “Windows” and then find and copyregedit.exe.
- Now move to the system driver, find and open the folder “Windows” and paste the regedit.exe, click “Continue” when prompted for confirmation.
Click Continue when Pasting Regedit
Restore Registry Related Values to Default
If the default values relating to Registry Editor are changed, there are great chances of you to suffer from accessing the Registry Editor. Follow the steps below to restore these values to their defaults.
- Press the Windows button and type “Notepad” to search and in the list displayed, click on “Notepad“.
Open Notepad in Windows Search Box - Paste the following commands in the notepad. Make sure there are two empty lines at the end of the file.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion] "SM_GamesName"="Games" "SM_ConfigureProgramsName"="Set Program Access and Defaults" "CommonFilesDir"="C:\Program Files\Common Files" "CommonFilesDir (x86)"="C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files" "CommonW6432Dir"="C:\Program Files\Common Files" "DevicePath"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f, 00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,69,00,6e,00,66,00,3b,00,00,00 "MediaPathUnexpanded"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00, 6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,4d,00,65,00,64,00,69,00,61,00,00,00 "ProgramFilesDir"="C:\Program Files" "ProgramFilesDir (x86)"="C:\Program Files (x86)" "ProgramFilesPath"=hex(2):25,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46, 00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,25,00,00,00 "ProgramW6432Dir"="C:\Program Files" Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
- Save the file with the name “RegistryFix.reg”.
Registry Fix - Now Right-click this file and click on Merge. Click Yes when prompted for confirmation.
Merge Registry Fix - Restart the system.
After the system is rebooted, check if you can access regedit.exe without any problem.
Perform a System Restore
System Restore is a technique included in Windows to restore Windows to a previous version. This technique is quite useful in case the system gets infected or any system Windows files get corrupted. In the case when Windows cannot excess registry editor, then the restoring system can solve the problem.
To restore the system, please follow the guidelines
After performing a system restore, check if you can access Registry Editor successfully.
Solution 9: repair the windows os
If nothing has helped you so far, then repairing the Windows installation can solve the problem.
What do you want to access using the run window?
The Run command window was first introduced by Microsoft in Windows 95 and has been with us ever since. Some of us access it pretty often, but plenty of people don’t realize its potential and usefulness yet. We’re happy this feature caught your eye, but we are curious what brought you here.
