Registry New

The Registry is a internal database used to store settings and options for the 32 bit versions of Microsoft Windows. It contains information and settings for all the hardware, software, users, and preferences of the PC. Whenever a user makes changes to a Control Panel settings, or File Associations, System Policies, or installed software, the changes are reflected and stored in the Registry.

The Registry has a hierarchal structure, although it may seem complicated the structure is similar to the directory structure on a hard disk, with Regedit.exe being similar to Windows Explorer.

Each main branch is called a Hive, and Hives contains Keys. Each key can contain other keys (sometimes referred to as sub-keys), as well as Values. The values contain the actual information stored in the Registry. There are three main types of values; String, Binary, and DWORD - the use of these depends upon the context.

A Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE) is included with most version of Windows it enables you to view, search and edit the data within the Registry.

For further information see the Windows Registry FAQ

See Also

• Microsoft Windows New