Kid's Writing
THE WINDOWS REGISTRY
The registry was introduced as a
way out of the “INI files mess” that plagued early versions of windows.
Configuration information regarding the operating system ,application
files ,hardware ,and so on were stored in INI files scattered all over the
system .For example , when an application is installed ,it needs to know
various parameters regarding the operating system and the available
hardware. Much of this information is common to other application as well.
However if there was any change in the hardware
or operating system software , updating the application’s INI file used to be
hell.
The registry was conceived as a
way out of this madness. Windows registry is hierarchical
database that stores information regarding the
software, user preference and system preference. This hierarchy separates the
machine information, user information and the software information
into logically discrete units that can be manipulated with greater ease. Any
changes made by user, the operating system, newly installed software and
hardware are all updated and reflected in the registry.
One size doesn't fit all. Each
windows computer in unique .It’s the windows registry that holds your personal
setting….so that’s where you should be headed if you want to make your computer
your own.
Regedit is a program you can use
to access and edit the registry. The Windows registry can be edited manually
using programs such as regedit.exe, It normally ships with the default
windows installation and can be launched from the Run command box in the Start
menu by typing “regedit” or “regedit.exe”.
The Registry Editor allows users
to perform the following functions:
- Creating,
manipulating, renaming and deleting registry keys, subkeys, values
and value data
- Importing
and exporting .REG files, exporting data in the binary hive format
- Loading,
manipulating and unloading registry hive format files (Windows NT-based
systems only)
- Setting
permissions based on ACLs (Windows NT-based systems only)
- Bookmarking
user-selected registry keys as Favorites
- Finding
particular strings in key names, value names and value data
- Remotely
editing the registry on another networked computer
The registry has to be one of the
least understood aspects of the windows operating system family
.Even seasoned professionals approach it with a degree Of caution ,
knowing that a wrong entry can potentially wreak havoc on the system . To
understand the registry is to get to the heart of controlling and modifying
your windows system .With a detailed understanding of what , you can turn
your machine into a lean performance machine, customize and personalize
its appearance grained control over nearly every aspect of how
windows XP behaves .
- by Km. Asmita Koiri of Class IX - Vivek
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