If you suddenly start seeing Windows registry errors popping up on your computer, you might think it's time to get the checkbook out and pay a lot of money for a professional repair. That's not the case, however. In fact, you can actually repair your Windows registry very easily. Here are some repair options that don't include calling in the pros.

*Do it yourself

If you know what you're doing and have all the information you need, you can actually go into the Windows registry editor and fix it yourself. While this might be tempting, especially if you are fairly good at computers, it can also be a bad idea. Making changes to the Windows registry is as easy as making changes to a Word document: click save and your changes are done! This means if you change something you shouldn't, you can very quickly and easily create more registry problems than you fix.

But if you really want to give it a shot, you'll need to make a note of which registry entry is causing you trouble. This isn't hard because most of the time, the offending program or file will be listed in the error message. Once you have that, you can attempt to fix the problem by opening the registry editor.

Opening the registry is very easy. Go to Windows, click on run, and type "regedit." This opens up the registry editor and allows you to change anything in the registry that you want. Again, be very careful here! It's very easy to change the wrong registry entry, and that will only make your problems worse. Often, people who don't quite know what they're doing will end up creating even more registry problems even if they fix the original issue.

*Call in a guru

Many people claim that they are computer experts in this technologically advanced age, and you probably even have several different relatives or friends who say they can fix your computer woes. This can also be a tricky fix to the problem because so many times these "experts" are not as familiar with editing a Windows registry problem as they claim. Sometimes these computer geeks can get over-zealous when tinkering with equipment that isn't their own, and if they don't manage to fix the problem at the end of the day you could still have a non-functioning computer to deal with.

There are exceptions to this rule, for example, if you do know someone who works with computers as a programmer or IT guy and you trust them with your equipment, then it is probably not a bad idea to give them a call. They will probably have encountered this problem before and know the appropriate registry scanner and other repair software that you could use to fix your problem. It can often be overwhelming when you try to go in and look at all the different options to try and find an appropriate solution on your own, so don't hesitate to call in an experienced friend to help you in this decision.

*Download a Windows registry scanner

For all the various ways to try and go about fixing a registry problem, a Windows registry scanner is probably the most sound and secure method of fixing the situation quickly and correctly the first time around. This is because the repair tools on this software are likely to encounter problems that you didn't even know existed in your Windows registry. Even if a person where to try and manually go through the entire registry, it is unlikely that they will know everything on the registry that is causing problems.

How do you tell which Windows registry utility is the best? Again, you can get recommendations from friends or from reviews listed on websites like ours. Generally, you should look for a Windows registry tool that will scan, repair, and back up the registry. A tool that compacts the registry is also helpful.