By Lincoln Spector
November 12, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO – Buffalo asked the Answer Line forum how to delete a Registry key
I’ve got a strong temptation not to answer this question. Deleting a Registry key is inherently dangerous. You don’t know what you can mess up.

If you fear that something wrong in your Registry is hurting your system, you’re better off using a Registry cleaner than going in and manually deleting a key. See How Best Do I Clean My Registry? for details.
But if you feel that you absolutely must go in manually, back up your Registry, first. See Back Up Your Registry for details.
Once it’s backed up, click Start, then Run, type regedit and press ENTER.

You’ll have to find the key you want in the Registry Editor. If you know its address, you can navigate the left pane as if it was Windows Explorer, looking for the folder within the folder. Or you can search by pressing F3 and entering a keyword.

Once you find the undesirable key in the right pane, right-click it, select Delete, then take a deep breath and select Yes.