Restart required after Registry change? Here is how to avoid it

Madalina Dinita
by Madalina Dinita
Madalina has been a Windows fan ever since she got her hands on her first Windows XP computer. She is interested in all things technology, especially emerging technologies -- AI and DNA computing in... Read more
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Restart Required registry

Editing the registry is a common fix for multiple Windows problems – both hardware and software. Users also occasionally need to modify aspects of the Registry when customizing the behavior of their PCs. The only irritating thing is that a reboot is often necessary before the alterations take effect.

Well, while sometimes it’s unavoidable, there are ways of implementing adjustments to Window’s registry without having to restart.

This is what this article is all about: how to avoid the usual restart required after performing registry changes.

Let me take you through some tactics to help you bypass a forced restart.

How to prevent PC restart after editing the Registry?

Method 1: Stop and start the concerned program

If you are sure that the changes you are making to the registry only affect a single program, you may enforce registry changes without a restart.

Simply stop and start the concerned application as soon as you are through with the amendments.

Steps:

  1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to start the task manager.
  2. Then look for that particular program under applications, select it then click end task.Restart Required After Registry Change

Note that not all apps. work this way and you may still be prompted to manually reboot to apply the changes.

Method 2: Restart Explorer.exe

Explorer.exe is the process that manages some essential Windows tools including the taskbar, various user interface features, and the desktop.

Restarting it sometimes helps save changes to the registry promptly and avert restarting.

Steps:

  1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL from the keyboard.
  2. From the shown Windows processes list, click Explorer then tap on End process.Restart Required After Registry Change
  3. The Windows task manager end process dialogue will be shown within moments. Click Cancel.Restart Required After Registry Change

This reloads the explorer tools and updates any fresh registry settings instantly meaning you can continue using the computer seamlessly.

If you find the explorer.exe is missing from the task manager, restore it to the running tasks manually by following the following procedure:

Steps:

  1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL
  2. Under applications, click New Task.
  3. Now type explorer. Click OK.

This reintroduces the explorer.exe and the programs/utilities it manages to the task manager.

Conclusion

By and large, whether you can carry out desired changes in the registry to the PC and elude the habitually mandatory restart depends on the setting you are working on.

That being said, restarting the explorer and the task manager are the two commonest tactics to prevent the restart required after registry change.

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