JSI Tip 2358. How do I prevent Regedit from using the last state?

When you open Regedit, it displays the last key you accessed in your previous session.

To stop this behavior, use Regedt32 to navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Regedit

Double-click the LastKey value name in the right hand pane and clear the string. Press OK. Select the Regedit key and use Security / Permissions to remove or Deny Full Control from any user or group you wish. Press OK and exit Regedt32.

NOTE: If you don't wish to Deny access to this key, and you can't disable Full Control, you can always just hold down SHIFT+LEFT ARROW to collapse the entries back to My Computer. I haven't found any problem (yet) with denying myself access.