Windows Registry is one of the most important aspect of windows Operating System (OS). In relation to human terms, it is the DNA of the computer system; hence any slightest change can cause severe issues to your computer and sometimes stops it from booting up.
The windows registry stores a value for every setting changes or reviewed on the computer, every software installed, file saved, file extensions and so on. These values are viewed by the registry editor.
Wikipedia.org defines the Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores low-level settings for the Microsoft Windows operating system and for applications that opt to use the registry. The kernel, device drivers, services, Security Accounts Manager, and user interface can all use the registry. The registry also allows access to counters for profiling system performance.
How to Open The Windows Registry
To open the windows registry,
- Press the Windows Key and R key together on your keyboard to open the run window
- In the search box, type in Regedit and press Enter key
- Click Yes in the User account control (UAC) dialog box that prompts up
- You should see something like this opened
The windows registry editor window is divided into 5 different folders namely – HKEY_CLASS_ROOT, HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, HKEY_USERS & HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
The HKEY_CLASS_ROOT folder stores all associations between file extensions and applications.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER contains all settings related to the current logged on user.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE is contains all settings for the computer itself. For example, information on installed softwares, updates, etc
HKEY_USERS contains information for all system’s users. It is arranged by set numbers which is a unique identifier for a specific user. This number stays the same even if the account name is changed.
Set numbers are generated at random when a user account is created. if you delete the account and recreate another one with the same name, the set number will be different because they are responsible for file and folder permissions on the system. If you create a new account, you will have to reset the permissions all over again
To know the set number for the current user , open command prompt and type
whoami /user
The HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG folder doesn’t store information. It is a shortcut to the current hardware configuration on the system which is contained in the HKEY LOCAL MACHINE.