Safe editing of the registry--need very explicit guidance

[1940 LaSalle]

I may have a virus that hides a couple of IE 6 options,
and I may have to edit the registry to get rid of it.
(This is the Java JJblack Trojan virus, as best I can
figure out.)

What do I do to ensure that this exercise doesn't become
another horror story? I'm not even sure how I go about
backing up the registry, which I'm told is a "must do"
step.

 

[Kent W. England [MVP]]

I may have a virus that hides a couple of IE 6 options,
and I may have to edit the registry to get rid of it.
(This is the Java JJblack Trojan virus, as best I can
figure out.)

What do I do to ensure that this exercise doesn't become
another horror story? I'm not even sure how I go about
backing up the registry, which I'm told is a "must do"
step.

If you are going to change or delete a key, then export that key to a
..reg file so that you can restore it later. In addition, make a system
restore point so that if you delete a key that prevents Windows from
working properly (but still it boots) you can use your restore point as
a brute force alternative to importing your saved registry keys.

You should also run NTbackup and make a system state backup that will
save your registry hives inside the Windows folder. Then if XP doesn't
boot at all, you can use Recovery Console to copy those backup hives
over the damaged hive(s). If you don't do this, you can still
laboriously extract your last restore point from the SVI folder, but it
is a real PITA.