To load (view or edit) an offline registry file:

1. Start > Run > regedit
2. Highlight “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE“
3. File > Load Hive
4. Browse to an offline registry file and open it
HKEY_CURRENT_USER will be located in C:\Documents and Settings\user.name\NTUSER.DAT
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE keys will be located in C:\WINDOWS\system32\config
5. Give it any name. E.g. TMP
6. Browse the new TMP key and make necessary changes
7. Highlight the new TMP key
8. File > Unload Hive
9. Close registry editor

Windows XP
Windows Server 2003