Backing up Windows XP registry without using System Restore

[Mindstorm]

I am having Windows XP on my computer. From the time I bought it, I have installed many games and software in this computer. So almost all of them must have created a registry entry in Windows. Now I want to reformat my computer. But the problem is that I don't have setup of all those software's. So I thought of to save registry so that Windows would not ask me for the installation. But I don't know how to do so. I asked this many places and almost all of them told me to do System Restore. I know this is not. Can anyone here help me to know how to backup Windows XP registry without using System Restore?

[Lillebror]

1. Click Start, click Run, type "%SystemRoot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe", and then click OK.
2. On the "Welcome to System Restore" page, click "Create a restore point", and then click Next .
3. On the "Create a Restore Point" page, type a name for the restore point and then click Create
4. After the restore point has been created, click Close.

[Calvin K]

You can even export the registry to a safe location. This is the fastest way to backup the Registry.

• Open the Registry Editor (Start -> Run -> Regedit).
• Go to File -> Import or Export.
• If you Export, you can save this to a Registry file (*.reg)

[Luis234]

WinSafe can take your Registry backup files for you. WinSafe XP is the most advanced utility. It backs up the entire Registry, most if not all other backup tools only backup certain Keys. It can restore your Registry without deleting any of your work. When you use Windows System Restore, it removes everything you have done since the restore point was made. WinSafe XP not only will backup the Windows Registry files, and restores them if you crash or corrupt the Registry. WinSafe checks your system files on boot up and shutdown.