HOW TO: Prevent Regedit.exe from Using the Last State

By default, when you start Regedit.exe, it displays the last key you accessed the last time you ran Regedit. This article describes how to prevent this behavior. WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

Preventing Regedit from Displaying the Last Key you Accessed When you Started Regedit

1. Start Regedt32.exe.
2. Locate the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Regedit
3. Double-click the LastKey value, clear the entry in the String box, and then click OK.
4. Click the Regedit key, and then click Permissions on the Security menu.
5. Remove Full Control access for any user who does not want Regedit to display the last key the user accessed in the previous Regedit session, and then click OK.
   
   Please note that if permissions cannot be removed, they may need to be denied.
6. Quit Regedt32.exe.

If you do not want to deny access to users, there is an easy way to close all keys and hives after you start Regedit. After you start Regedit, press and hold down SHIFT+LEFT ARROW to collapse all the entries back to the My Computer entry. You must do this each time you start Regedit.

Note that Regedt32.exe does not exhibit the behavior noted above.