This is going to be an example. Do not delete anything. Just discover how easy it is.

Click Start, then Click Run and Type in Regedit.
Hit OK.

You just opened Regedit. This is a software that allows you to edit your registry files. These are important, very important files. That is why I always recommend you backup your registry before deleting anything.

Deleting an ENTRY:

Example of an entry:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\clsid\
{e9147a0a-a866-4214-b47c-
da821891240f}

In Regedit you can see many folders and if you open those folders you will see also many entries or files whatever you wanna call them.

Let us break down the entry in bits and pieces. The slash / acts like a FULL STOP or COMMA. The first part is
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

So in Regedit we need to find the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and click on the small PLUS sign next to it. (If there is the small plus sign we click on it - if no plus sign we click on the folder/file named HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT)

NOTE: Clicking the plus sign will open a LIST of other files. Our next search will go through that list.

The second part is:
clsid. So wee need to find that folder/file named clsid in the list that has just opened. (Again if there is a plus sign we click on it. If no plus sign we click on the folder/file named clsid)

The third part is:

{e9147a0a-a866-4214-b47c-
da821891240f}

It is also the last part so it is the one we need to delete. So as you can see the other parts serve to help up locate the 'part' we wanna delete. It is always the LAST PART that we delete.

In this case it is {e9147a0a-a866-4214-b47c-
da821891240f} So find it and click DELETE button on your keyboard or right click on it and select DELETE.


Another example:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\clsid\
{eb6d8baa-704a-415b-bc0a-
3468bfae924e}

The first part is:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

We click on the plus sign next to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. A list will open and in the list we will find the second part.

The second part is:

clsid.

We find it and click on the plus sign next to it. A list will open and we find the last part. The last part is the part that we delete.

The last part:

{eb6d8baa-704a-415b-bc0a-
3468bfae924e}

Find it and delete it.

That is all.

Let me recap:

The slash sign / acts like a comma or full stop. Example:
chefs/freezer/food

Thanks to the slash marks we know that there are three different items. The chefs, freezer and food. Three parts. Quite easy :)

The folders and files in Regedit are all sorted out by name and number. Means first you will find folders that begin with A and all the way down till Z .

If folders names have numbers like {9147a0a} than the first folder in the list will start with 0 all the way till 9 (it is easy - basically everything is sorted to make it easier to find the folders/files)

If you cannot find the folder/file name skip the registry entry - you cannot delete it if does not exist.

Note: How to do a registry backup - important information from my other blog post.