Registry for Windows 95
January 21st, 2010Registry is the name of Windows hierarchical database, that Windows uses to store options and configurations for a Microsoft Operating System.
The registry contains set-up for components of low-level operating systems and the applications based on that platform. Registry is used by device drivers, the kernels, SAM, user interface, services and all the third party software.
Windows registry also offers a way to access counters to profile performance of the system.
The primary function of the Windows registry, when it was initially launched with Windows 3.1, was to accumulate configuration details regarding COM-based components.
But the use of Windows Registry extended with the launch of Windows NT and Windows 95. It included a large number of per-program INI files wherein configuration settings for Windows had been stored.
The Registry includes two basic elements values and keys.
Registry Values refer to the pairs of name/data stored within the keys.
Manipulation of registry values is carried out by the API functions of Windows, which access names of values discretely from their key paths and/or from Windows handle that acknowledges the parent key.
Although, the term is a little bit confusing, with values resembling associative arrays, wherein standard definition suggests that a key is the name portion of value.
These terms are an archive from 16-bit registry in Windows
The biggest advantage of Registry in Microsoft Windows is that it can be edited manually with the help of regedit.exe or regedt32.exe in the Windows directory.
Although, neglectfully editing the registry can result in irreparable damage or you end up with a slow Windows 7. Therefore, Microsoft and several industry experts, including the writers and editors of leading trade magazines, have highly recommended to perform backups of the registry prior to editing it.
A direct implementation of the current registry tool was seen in Windows 3.x, known as the “Registration Editor” or “Registration Info Editor”.
Typically, it was merely a database of applications that are used to edit OLE objects embedded in documents.
But the users need to be cautious as the two editors on the aforementioned platforms differ tremendously.
An integrated program of these two distinct programs was firstly seen in Windows XP. The operating system embraced the REGEDIT.EXE interface and infused the REGEDT32.EXE functionality into it.
These editors do not show such differences on Windows XP and newer systems. For instance - REGEDIT.EXE is the more refined and sophisticated editor, while REGEDT32.EXE is only a stub that invokes REGEDIT.EXE.
The Registry Editor permits users to carry out functions that follow:
- Importing and exporting .REG files, exporting data in the binary hive format
- Creating, manipulating, renaming and deleting registry keys, subkeys, values and value data
- Setting permissions based on ACLs (Windows NT-based systems only)
- Loading, manipulating and unloading registry hive format files (Windows NT-based systems only)
- Remotely editing the registry on another networked computer
Linux platform too allows for editing the registry with the assistance of an open source tool called Offline NT Password & Registry Editor.