What Is The Windows Registry?
The Windows windows computer system registry is a database which stores settings and options for the os for Microsoft Windows 32-bit variations, 64-bit variations and Windows Mobile.
It consists of information and settings for all the hardware, software application, users, and options of the PC. Whenever a user makes adjustments to “Control Panel” settings, or file associations, system policies, or established software application, the adjustments are revealed and kept in the computer system pc registry.
The computer system pc registry remains in reality a substantial file where a lot of setting can be conserved.
This file has really been around a very long time and has really had numerous names.
Due to the fact that variation of windows was called Reg.dat, the really first windows variation that used the windows computer system pc registry to keep settings was windows 3.11 and the pc computer registry.
In Windows 95 & & & & 98 the computer system windows registry files are called User.dat and System.dat and are conserved in the Windows directory website.
Windows ME called the windows computer system registry files, User.dat, classes.dat, and system.dat and conserved them in the Windows directory website.
The most recent variations of windows like, Windows NT, 2000, 2003, & & & & XP stores the pc computer registry files like this,
The Registry files are conserved in %SystemRoot% System32Config:
– Sam
– Security
– Software
– System
– Default
– Userdiff
– NTUSER.dat
– The NTUSER.dat file is conserved in the profile folder.
The Windows Registry existed to tidy up the old technique of keeping text entries in INI files. These entries had really previously been used to conserve setup settings for Windows programs.
The ini files where kept in a good deal of great deals of programs and different directory site websites used their own ini state some or all of their settings. By doing this of using ini files all over the system, made them difficult to deal and track with in a easy and practical approach.
What’s Good with the Registry
Changing from having numerous INI Files per program to one centralised windows pc registry has some obvious and some not so obvious benefits:
– The computer system computer registry keeps maker setup various from user setup. When a user logs into a Windows NT/XP/2003 computer system, their computer system computer system registry settings are integrated with the system big settings.
– Group Policy allows administrators on a Windows-based computer system network to centrally deal with program and policy settings. This is not made use of in a home environment, simply in corporations with a dedicated logon server.
Given that the computer system windows registry is accessed through a special API it is provided to scripts and remote management making use of WMI, -. Each script does not require to be individualized for each single application’s unique setup file styles and constraints.
– The windows computer registry can be accessed as one item over a network connection for remote management/support, including from scripts, making use of the standard API.
– It can be supported faster, due to the fact that it is merely a little variety of files in specific locations.
Bad things with the Registry
Not all that shines is gold. The Registry provides some concerns:
– It is a single point of failure – damage to the Registry can render a Windows system unbootable, in extreme cases to a point that can not be fixed, and requires a total reinstall of Windows. This is why it is so important to make use of pc windows registry scan and repair energies, while the computer system windows registry still can be repaired.
– Any program which wants to manage the computer system pc registry need to make use of distinct Windows API works whereas a setup file can be managed using common text file-processing methods.
– Configuration files can consist of remarks to help the user by explaining what worths are for and how they can be changed, the computer system windows registry can not. And the computer system computer system registry use something called guids in a huge scale.
– It is more difficult to backup – it can not be done ‘live’ due to the reality that it is continuously in use, and for that reason requires distinct software application such as ntbackup.
Considering that you can not rapidly extract info from supported windows computer system registry files, – Restoring parts of the computer system pc registry is hard
– Any application that does not uninstall properly, or does not have an uninstaller, can leave entries in the windows pc registry, which can lead in time to increased file size and lowered effectiveness. And when once again, here’s the substantial factor that you need to make use of a pc computer system registry scan/clean and repair software application.
As quickly as more with the release of the new Vista Operating System from Microsoft, the computer system windows registry will be redone.
– The windows computer system registry keeps gadget setup various from user setup. When a user logs into a Windows NT/XP/2003 computer system, their pc windows registry settings are integrated with the system broad settings. There are continuously some system broad settings that are common for all users.
– Configuration files can include remarks to help the user by explaining what worths are for and how they can be changed, the windows pc registry can not. And the computer system pc registry use something called guids in a huge scale.