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I want to load the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive from another installation of Windows (e.g. X:\Windows\System32\config\SYSTEM), but apparently I can't load the hive because the "File -> Load Hive" menu item is disabled:

Registry Editor - Load Hive grayed out

mwfearnley
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2 Answers2

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You need to load a hive into a specific key, so it's necessary to select a key first:

Registry Editor - Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key

You can load hives into HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or into HKEY_USERS.

Once you've clicked HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, the "Load Hive" menu item will immediately become available:

Registry Editor - Load Hive Enabled

Andrew Truckle
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mwfearnley
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  • It may also be greyed out if you don't have sufficient rights. – Tobias Knauss Apr 02 '20 at 13:58
  • @TobiasKnauss Regedit generally needs to be run as Administrator anyway, doesn't it? – mwfearnley Apr 07 '20 at 07:55
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    No, in my business Win 10 computer I can start regedit with my user account (no local admin rights) and no UAC prompt is shown. So I can start regedit, but I cannot do a lot. – Tobias Knauss Apr 08 '20 at 09:32
  • Good answer +1, also just to add here, if you aren't able to Load back the original Key (perhaps getting "File in use" error), you must first Unload the Key from the offline copy of Windows/OS, to do this you have to first select / highlight the Sub-Key then File -> Unload. Note: selecting the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" Key won't allow you to Unload a Sub-Key (e.g. SOFTWARE) therefore you must select the Sub-Key such as SOFTWARE, then do File -> Unload. HTH. – Eddie Kumar Feb 17 '23 at 13:40
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Even if you chose the correct key to load a hive into, this may result from insufficient user rights. If you're running under a user account and open regedit without admin rights, you may not be able to load a hive.
I have seen that on my own business laptop, in which I have a user account without local admin rights.

Tobias Knauss
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