There are certain steps you can take to protect your Windows registry. One of the things you can do is configure permissions for specific users or groups on different keys and hives within the Windows registry.
To open the registry, click start and select Run. Type regedt32 and click OK. Keep in mind that this command is not available in Windows 95/98/ or ME. These three platforms use regedit.exe, which does not provide this functionality.
Once your registry is open, right click the hive or key you want to configure permissions on and click Permissions. To add a new user or group, click the Add button. Enter in the name of the user or group and click Check Names. Click OK. You can then highlight the user or group from the list, and specify the type of permission they should have.
[tags]xp,windows registry,registry,permission,regedt32[/tags]