Enable Registry Editor disabled by Administrator or Virus

Registry Editor is a useful utility in Windows which allows users to easily change advanced Windows settings by altering registry keys present in a hierarchical arrangement called the Windows Registry. Despite being such a powerful tool, Registry Editor is not totally error-proof.

A simple virus infection is all it takes to render it useless. Or, there are times when your administrator has actually disabled Registry Editing. When you try to open the Registry Editor in one such computer, you are likely to receive the“Registry editing has been disabled by your administrator” error. Due to this error, it is impossible to remove this restriction using Registry Editor itself.
This article suggests some Workarounds for re-enabling Registry Editing in a computer running Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003/ 2008, Windows 7 or Windows 8.

Enable Registry Editor Using Group Policy Editor

Click on Start. Go to Run. Users running Windows 8, Windows 7 or Vista, go to Search.
Type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
Navigate to User Configuration/ Administrative Templates / System.
In the work area, double click on "Prevent Access to registry editing tools".
In the popup window, encircle Disabled and click on OK.
Normally, Registry Editor will be immediately accessible. If it is not, restart your PC.
Group Policy Editor is not available on home editions of Windows.