In today’s edition of Geek School, we’re going to teach you how to use the registry editor, what some of those keys actually mean, and generally help you understand it a little better.

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Over the years we’ve covered a lot of registry hacks, and while most people can handle the step-by-step instructions for how to make a registry change, or double-click a .reg file to insert it into the registry, you will be much better served having a solid knowledge of what the registry is and how it works.

The most important thing to know about the registry is that you probably shouldn’t just mess around and delete or change things for no reason. Deleting a big portion of the registry is never going to make your computer run faster, and there’s no registry hack that will speed up your computer or give you some major new functionality that doesn’t exist.

The Registry Structure To view or edit the registry Windows includes a program called RegEdit. In Windows 2000 and XP click StartRun and enter regedit.exe in the run box and then click OK. In Vista click Start and type 'regedit' in the search box, at the bottom of the Start Menu, followed by the Enter key. In Windows 98, the registry files are named User.dat and System.dat. In Windows Millennium Edition, the registry files are named Classes.dat, User.dat, and System.dat. Note Security features in Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Vista let an administrator control access to registry keys. There are two ways to open Registry Editor in Windows 10: In the search box on the taskbar, type regedit. Then, select the top result for Registry Editor (Desktop app). The Windows Registry usually referred to as just the registry, is a collection of databases of configuration settings in Microsoft Windows operating systems. The Windows Registry is sometimes incorrectly spelled as the registery or the regestry.

In Windows 98, the registry files are named User.dat and System.dat. In Windows Millennium Edition, the registry files are named Classes.dat, User.dat, and System.dat. Note Security features in Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Vista let an administrator control access to registry keys.

Almost all registry hacks involve either tweaking the behavior of some component in Windows, or disabling a behavior that you don’t like. For instance, if you want to disable SkyDrive / OneDrive from Windows entirely, you can use a registry hack to accomplish it. If you are tired of Windows Update forcibly rebooting your computer, you can hack the registry to make it stop.

What is the Registry?

The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that contains all of the configurations and settings used by components, services, applications, and pretty much everything in Windows.

The registry has two basic concepts to be aware of: Keys and Values. Registry Keys are objects that are basically folders, and in the interface even look exactly like folders. Values are a bit like the files in the folders, and they contain the actual settings.

When you open the Registry Editor for the first time, you’ll see a treeview on the left-hand pane that contains all of the keys, with values on the right-hand side. It’s about as simple as an interface gets.

The root-level keys that you see in the left-hand side of the screenshot are important. Each one houses a different set of information, so depending on what you are trying to do, you’ll need to know which section to browse down into.

Windows Registry Tutorial Pdf

The interesting thing that most people don’t know is that three of the five items on the root level aren’t actually there… they are just linked to items further down in one of the other keys.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

Windows uses this section to manage file type associations, and it is usually abbreviated HKCR when being referenced in documentation. This key is actually just a link to HKLMSoftwareClasses.

You can also use this section if you want to tweak the context menu for a particular file type.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER

Holds the user settings for the currently logged in user, and is usually abbreviated HKCU This is actually just a link to HKEY_USERS<SID-FOR-CURRENT-USER>. The most important sub-key in here is HKCUSoftware, which contains user-level settings for most of your software.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

All of the system-wide settings are stored here, and it is usually abbreviated as HKLM. You’ll mostly use the HKLMSoftware key to check machine-wide settings.

HKEY_USERS

Stores all of the settings for all users on the system. You’ll typically use HKCU instead, but if you need to check settings for another user on your computer, you can use this one.

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG

Stores all of the information about the current hardware configuration. This one isn’t used very often, and it just a link to HKLMSYSTEMCurrentControlSetHardware ProfilesCurrent.

Creating New Keys and Values

Right-clicking on any key in the left-hand side of the window will give you a set of options, most of which are fairly straightforward and easy to understand.

You can create a new Key, which will show up as a folder on the left-hand side, or a new value, which will show up on the right-hand side. Those values can be a little confusing, but there are really only a couple of values that are used regularly.

  • String Value (REG_SZ) – This contains anything that will fit into a regular string. The vast majority of the time, you can edit human-readable strings without breaking everything.
  • Binary Value (REG_BINARY) – This value contains arbitrary binary data, and you will almost never want to attempt to edit one of these keys.
  • DWORD (32-bit) Value (REG_DWORD) – These are almost always used for a regular integer value, whether just 0 or 1, or a number from 0 to 4,294,967,295.
  • QWORD (64-bit) Value (REG_QWORD) – These are not used very often for registry hacking purposes, but it’s basically a 64-bit integer value.
  • Multi-String Value (REG_MULTI_SZ) – These values are fairly uncommon, but it works basically like a notepad window. You can type multi-line textual information into a field like this.
  • Expandable String Value (REG_EXPAND_SZ) – These variables have a string that can contain environment variables and is often used for system paths. So a string might be %SystemDrive%Windows and would expand to C:Windows. This means that when you find a value in the Registry that is set to this type, you can change or insert environment variables and they will be “expanded” before the string is used.

Fun Fact: DWORD is short for “Double Word,” because a “Word” is a term for the default unit of data used by a processor, and when Windows was created that was 16 bits. So a “word” is 16 bits, and a “Double Word” is 32 bits. While modern processors are all 64-bit, the Registry still uses the older format for compatibility.

The Favorites Menu

One of the really useful features that nobody seems to notice is the Favorites menu, which is great when you want to check a registry location regularly. What’s really fun is that you can export the list of favorites and use it again on another computer without having to browse down to the keys and add them to the favorites menu.

It’s also a great way to bookmark something in the registry if you are looking around in multiple locations, so you can easily flip back to the last place you were at.

Exporting Registry Files

You can export registry keys and all of the values contained underneath them by right-clicking on a key and choosing Export. This is really important if you are going to be making changes to your system.

Once you’ve got your exported registry file, you can double-click on it to enter the information back into the registry, or you can choose Edit to take a look at the contents in Notepad.

The registry hacking file format is pretty simple – value names on the left, and actual values on the right.

RELATED:How to Make Your Own Windows Registry Hacks

For more on registry hack files, make sure to read our guide on the subject.

Setting Permissions

Some of the registry keys won’t allow you to make changes by default. This is generally because you don’t have permission to those keys, but you can tweak the permissions scheme if you want by right-clicking a key and choosing Permissions, and then adjusting them from there.

We should note that this is not a good idea, and you should usually stay away from keys that require this much work to edit.

Loading Registry Hives

You can use the File -> Load Hive feature to load up a registry from an offline system. Perhaps you are troubleshooting another computer, and would like to see what is going on in the registry for a system that isn’t booting. So you boot the system from a rescue disk, or maybe a Linux live CD, and then copy the registry files onto your thumb drive.

Now you can open them up on another computer and look around by using the Load Hive option.

Where are these registry files stored?

You can find most of them in the WindowsSystem32Config folder.

See those SAM, SECURITY, SOFTWARE, and SYSTEM files? They correspond to the same keys underneath the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE folder.

The data for the HKEY_CURRENT_USER branch is stored in your user folder, in a hidden file called NTUSER.DAT.

Backing Up Your Registry

RELATED:Create a Restore Point for Windows 7 or Vista’s System Restore

You might have noticed over the years that every site that advises you to hack the registry in some way also tells you to backup your registry. But what’s the best way to do that?

You can’t export the entire registry to a file, and it wouldn’t work very well to import it again either. You also can’t easily access the files themselves on the hard drive, because they are completely locked. So that’s not going to work.

The best option to backup your registry? Create a System Restore point.

Rolling back a system restore point is quite easy.

Some Important Things to Note

While many people refuse to agree, the fact is that registry cleaners are pointless and should not be used. Cleaning up a few hundred keys out of a database of millions isn’t going to provide any performance boost, and any errors in the registry that resulted in a component not loading properly would be caught in Event Viewer or elsewhere, and could be fixed without resorting to cleaning the registry.

And don’t even get us started on registry “defrag,” which is complete nonsense these days. Perhaps back on Windows 95 with dirt-slow hard drives, it made sense. But now, with modern hard drives, or solid state drives that don’t need defragmenting at all? Don’t do it.

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The Windows Registry usually referred to as just the registry, is a collection of databases of configuration settings in Microsoft Windows operating systems.

The Windows Registry is sometimes incorrectly spelled as the registery or the regestry.

What Is the Windows Registry Used For?

The Windows Registry is used to store much of the information and settings for software programs, hardware devices, user preferences, operating system configurations, and much more.

Windows 7 Registry Tutorial Pdf

For example, when a new program is installed, a new set of instructions and file references may be added to the registry in a specific location for the program, and others that may interact with it, to refer to for more information like where the files are located, which options to use in the program, etc.

In many ways, the registry can be thought of as a kind of DNA for the Windows operating system.

It's not necessary for all Windows applications to utilize the Windows Registry. There are some programs that store their configurations in XML files instead of the registry, and others that are entirely portable and store their data in an executable file.

How to Access the Windows Registry

The Windows Registry is accessed and configured using the Registry Editor program, a free registry editing utility included by default with every version of Microsoft Windows.

Tutorial

Registry Editor isn't a program you download. Instead, it can be accessed by executing regedit from the Command Prompt or from the search or Run box from the Start menu. See How to Open Registry Editor if you need help.

Registry Editor is the face of the registry and is the way to view and make changes to the registry, but it's not the registry itself. Technically, the registry is the collective name for various database files located in the Windows installation directory.

How to Use the Windows Registry

Microsoft access real estate template. The registry contains registry values (which are instructions), located within registry keys (folders that contain more data), all within one of several registry hives ('main' folders that categorize all the data in the registry using subfolders). Making changes to these values and keys using Registry Editor will change the configuration that a particular value controls.

See How to Add, Change, & Delete Registry Keys & Values for lots of help on the best ways to make edits to the Windows Registry.

Here a few examples where making changes to registry values solves a problem, answers a question, or alters a program in some way:

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, though these changes are sometimes not realized until you reboot the computer.

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Considering how important the Windows Registry is, backing up the parts of it you're changing, before you change them, is very important. Windows Registry backup files are saved as REG files.

See How to Back up the Windows Registry for help doing that. Additionally, just in case you need it, here's our How to Restore the Windows Registry tutorial, which explains how to import REG files back into the Registry Editor.

Windows Registry Availability

The Windows Registry and the Microsoft Registry Editor program are available in nearly every Microsoft Windows version including Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 95, and more.

Windows 10 Registry Tutorial Pdf

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 very early versions of Windows.

Where Is the Windows Registry Stored?

Windows Registry Fix

The SAM, SECURITY, SOFTWARE, SYSTEM, and DEFAULT registry files, among others, are stored in newer versions of Windows (like Windows XP through Windows 10) in the %SystemRoot%System32Config folder.

Older versions of Windows use the %WINDIR% folder to store registry data as DAT files. Windows 3.11 uses only one registry file for the entire Windows Registry, called REG.DAT.

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Windows 2000 keeps a backup copy of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE System key that it can use in the event of a problem with the existing one.