The Windows Registry, usually referred to as "the registry," is a centralized database of configuration settings in Microsoft Windows operating systems.
The Windows Registry is sometimes incorrectly spelled as the "registery" or the "regestry."The Windows Registry is used as a single place to store much of the information and settings for software programs, hardware devices, user preferences, operating system configurations, and much more.
In many ways, the registry can be thought of as a kind of DNA for the Windows operating system.
The Windows Registry is accessed and configured using the Microsoft Registry Editor program, a free registry editing utility included with every version of Microsoft Windows.
Registry Editor is, for all reasonable purposes, the registry itself. All available options in the registry are configurable via Registry Editor.
The registry contains a number of registry values located within registry keys, all within a registry hive. Making changes to these values and keys using Registry Editor will change the configuration that a particular value controls.
Here a few examples where making changes to registry values alters a program in some way:
- How To Prevent Programs From Stealing Focus in Windows XP
- How To Change the Windows XP Product Key Code
The registry is constantly being referenced by Windows and other programs. When you make changes to nearly any setting, changes are also made to the appropriate areas in the registry.
Even though the registry contains thousands of values, there are only a few things you need to know before you're able to make nearly any registry change.
Windows Vista Registry Editor Basics:
- How To Backup the Entire Registry in Windows Vista
- How To Backup Registry Keys in Windows Vista
- How To Delete Registry Keys in Windows Vista
- How To Restore Registry Keys in Windows Vista
Windows XP Registry Editor Basics:
The Windows Registry and the Microsoft Registry Editor program are available in nearly every Microsoft Windows version including Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 95, and more.
Note: Even though the registry is available in almost every Windows version, some very small differences do exist between them.
The Windows Registry has replaced autoexec.bat, config.sys, and nearly all of the INI files that contained configuration information in MS-DOS and in Windows 3.11 and earlier.
