Understanding the Registry :
The registry is the complete repository of the system.
The Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP Registry is a complex, unified, system wide database, used for storing, locating, editing and administering the system, hardware, software which follows a hierarchical structure.
It was introduced to replace the text/ASCII based MS-DOS configuration (.BAT, .SYS) and MS Windows initialization (.INI) files.
Registry Structure :
The registry is divided into five separate structures that represent the registry database completely. These five groups are known as keys and they are as below given ;
1) HKEY_CURRENT_USER
This registry key contains the configuration information for the user that is currently logged in. The users folders, screen colors, and control panel settings are stored here. This information is known as a User Profile.
2) HKEY_USERS
In windowsNT 3.5x, user profiles were stored locally (by default) in the systemroot\system32\config directory. In NT4.0, they are stored in the systemroot\profiles directory. User-Specific information is kept there, as well as common, system wide user information.
3) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
This key contains configuration information particular to the computer. This information is stored in the systemroot\system32\config directory as persistent operating system files, with the exception of the volatile hardware key.
4) HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
The information stored here is used to open the correct application when a file is opened by using Explorer and for Object Linking and Embedding. It is actually a window that reflects information from the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software subkey.
5) HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
The information contained in this key is to configure settings such as the software and device drivers to load or the display resolution to use. This key has a software and system subkeys, which keep track of configuration information.
Each of these keys is divided into subkeys, which may contain further subkeys, and so on. Any key may contain entries with various types of values. The values of these entries can be ;
- String Value
- Binary Value (0 or 1)
- DWORD Value, a 32 bit unsigned integer
- Multi-String Value
- Expandable String Value
Editing Registry :
Always make sure that you know what you are doing when changing the registry or else just one little mistake can crash the whole system. That's why it's always good to back it up !
To view the registry (or to back it up), you need to use the Registry Editor tool. There are two versions of Registry Editor ;
To modify the Registry, you need to use a Registry Editor as :
- Start
- Run
- Regedit.exe (Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP) = located in %WinBootDir% (%SystemRoot%) has the most menu items and more choices for the menu items. You can search for keys and subkeys in the registry.
- Regedt32.exe (Windows NT/2000/XP) = located in %SystemRoot%\System32,enables you to search for strings, values, keys, and subkeys. This feature is useful if you want to find specific data.
What is REG Files ?
.reg file, which can be in the for of ;
- Plain text/ASCII format in Windows 95/98/ME and NT/2000/XP or
- Binary format in Windows 2000/XP
Text .REG files can be easily viewed/created/edited by hand using any text/ASCII editor, like Notepad.
Their purpose is to add, modify or delete Registry (Sub) Keys and/or Values
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