WINDOWS

REGISTRY
PRESENTED BY :
CHANDRESH VERMA
IT FINAL YEAR
IIT GZB
OUTLINE
 Why Window Registry is needed?
What is Window Registry?
Structure
Keys/Hives
Advantage
Disadvantage


Why Registry is Needed?

ü Need of Customization
ü Need of Security
ü Creation of such database that one key can’t
affect on another key or function of program.
ü Due to limitation of .INI Files
ü
Registry Definition

The Microsoft Computer Dictionary defines the

registry as:
A central hierarchical database used in the
Microsoft Windows family of Operating
Systems to store information necessary to
configure the system for one or more users,
applications and hardware devices.

STRUCTURE

qString- used for human readable text entries.

q
q
qBinary-used for hardware and device setting.

qDword-allowed for binary values.

Keys/Hives

§HKEY_CLASS_ROOT
§
§HKEY_CURRENT_USER
§
§HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
§
§HKEY_USER
§
§HKEY_CURRENT-CONFIG
 qHKEY_CLASS_ROOT
oContains all the information related to aspect of window’s
User Interface and file associate mapping.

qHKEY_CURRENT USER
oContains all the info. Related to current user logged such as
Desktop setting, logon name & other user specific file position

qHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
oContains all the information regarding hardware and software

qHKEY_USERS
oContains all the information of all user which are
registered
in account
qHKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
oContains all the information gathered when computer
boots up, it copied and merged data from H_L_M
ADVANTAGE
 Strongly-typed data can be stored in the Registry,
as opposed to only textual information in INI
Files.
Standardization of the method of storing
configuration data across diverse applications.
The registry can be accessed over a network
connection for remote management/support,
including from scripts, using the standard set of
APIs, as long as the Remote Registry service is
running and firewall rules permit this.
The entire registry can be backed up more easily
as it is just a small number of files in specific
locations. However, it is much harder to back up
and restore configuration of a specific
application.
Since accessing the registry does not require
parsing, it can be read from and written to more
quickly than a text file can be.

DISADVANTAGE
Centralizing configurations makes it
difficult to back up and recover
individual applications.
Because the Registry structure is
contained in binary files, damage to it is
difficult to repair, a damaged registry
may prevent a Windows system from
booting successfully.
Any application that does not uninstall
properly, or does not have an uninstaller,
can leave entries in the registry. Over
time the computer suffers "software rot"
as the registry fills with left-over and
possibly incorrect entries.

THANK
YOU