What Is The Windows Registry?
What Is The Windows Registry?
The Windows registry is a database which shops settings and alternatives for the running system for Microsoft Windows 32-bit variations, 64-bit versions and Windows Mobile.
It carries statistics and settings for all of the hardware, software program, users, and choices of the PC. Whenever a user makes adjustments to "Control Panel" settings, or document institutions, gadget policies, or installed software program, the adjustments are reflected and stored inside the registry.
The registry is virtually a large document in which a whole lot of setting may be saved.
This report has been round quite a while and has had distinct names.
The first home windows model that used the home windows registry to shop settings turned into home windows three.Eleven and the registry in that version of windows become called Reg.Dat.
In Windows 95 & 98 the registry documents are named User.Dat and System.Dat and are stored within the Windows listing.
Windows ME known as the registry files, Classes.Dat, User.Dat, and System.Dat and stored them in the Windows directory.
Finally the most up-to-date variations of home windows like, Windows NT, 2000, 2003, & XP shops the registry documents like this,
The Registry documents are saved in %SystemRootpercentSystem32Config:
* Sam
* Security
* Software
* System
* Default
* Userdiff
* NTUSER.Dat
* The NTUSER.Dat record is saved inside the profile folder.
The Windows Registry become added to tidy up the vintage way of storing textual content entries in INI files. These entries had previously been used to store configuration settings for Windows programs.
The ini files in which stored in lots of special directories and many programs used their personal ini report for a few or all of their settings. This manner of the usage of ini documents all over the system, made them difficult to preserve music of and cope with in an clean and logical manner.
What's Good with the Registry
Changing from having one or more INI Files consistent with application to at least one centralised registry has some apparent and a few no longer so obvious advantages:
* The registry maintains system configuration break away consumer configuration. When a person logs into a Windows NT/XP/2003 computer, their registry settings are merged with the system huge settings. This permits applications to extra without problems preserve per-consumer configuration, as they could simply work with the 'modern person' key, whereas in the past they tended to simply preserve gadget-wide in line with-application settings. There are continually some device extensive settings which are common for all customers even though.
* Group Policy lets in directors on a Windows-based laptop community to centrally manage application and coverage settings. This isn't always used in a home environment, handiest in corporations with a committed logon server.
* Because the registry is accessed through a special API it's far to be had to scripts and far flung management the usage of WMI. Each script does no longer should be customised for every utility's specific configuration document layouts and restrictions.
* The registry can be accessed as one item over a community connection for far off control/guide, along with from scripts, the use of the same old API.
* It can be subsidized up more effortlessly, in that it's far only a small wide variety of files in specific places.
Bad matters with the Registry
Not all that shines is gold. The Registry introduces a few problems as well:
* It is a unmarried point of failure - harm to the Registry can render a Windows device unbootable, in excessive cases to some extent that can't be fixed, and requires a complete reinstall of Windows. This is why it's so critical to use registry scan and repair utilities, even as the registry nevertheless may be repaired.
* Any application which wants to manage the registry need to use special Windows API features while a configuration record can be manipulated the usage of regular text record-processing techniques.
* Configuration documents can include comments to assist the person through explaining what values are for and the way they can be changed, the registry cannot. And the registry use some thing called guids in a large scale. Long extraordinary unique numbers this is absolutely meaningless to people. Making handling a great deal tougher.
* It is more tough to backup - it can't be done 'stay' due to the fact it is continually in use, and for this reason calls for unique software together with ntbackup.
* Restoring parts of the registry is hard due to the fact you cannot effortlessly extract facts from backed up registry documents
* Any utility that does not uninstall nicely, or does not have an uninstaller, can depart entries inside the registry, that can lead over time to increased file size and decreased performance. And over again, here's the important purpose why you need to use a registry scan/smooth and restore software program.
The registry could be redone another time with the release of the brand new Vista Operating System from Microsoft.
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