Prevent Regedit from Saving the Last Location (Windows 2000/XP)

By default, when you start Regedit.exe, it displays the last key you accessed the last time you ran Regedit. This tweak describes how to prevent this behavior.

1. Open your registry using Regedt32.exe and find the key:
   [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Regedit]
2. Double-click the "LastKey" value, clear the entry in the String box, and then click OK.
3. Highlight the key, and then click Permissions on the Security menu.
4. 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.)
5. Quit Regedt32.exe.

Note: 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.

		(Default)	REG_SZ	(value not set)
		LastKey	REG_SZ

	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\...

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Disclaimer: Modifying the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. We cannot guarantee that problems resulting from modifications to the registry can be solved. Use the information provided at your own risk.