Documentation for Intellect 4.11.0-4.11.3. Documentation for other versions of Intellect is available too.

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Windows system registry is a database containing the settings of the operating system (hardware, software, users). When system parameters of the operating system are changed, the system registry is updated.

You can edit the registry using the regedit.exe utility included in the standard set of service programs in Windows. The information about the OS settings is stored in two hidden files in the Windows directory: system.dat and user.dat. The registry is a hierarchical structure, the branches of which constitute the keys that contain parameters and subkeys. The registry has six main branches described in the table.

Branch name

Description

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

Contains the information about the software configuration, including the ties of the file types to certain applications, drag-and-drop parameters, printer parameters and COM

HKEY_CURRENT_USER

Contains user system configuration settings. This section is created and populated with information from the HKEY_USERS section upon user login

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

Contains the parameters of the computer, drivers and other hardware. The information in this section is common to all users of the computer

HKEY_USERS

Contains the information about all users who have accounts on this computer. Contains two types of parameters: common to all users and specific to each user

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG

Contains the information about the current hardware configuration

HKEY_DYN_DATA

Indicates the part of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE section that is needed for Plug & Play devices. This section changes when you add or remove devices from the system

The branches, keys and subkeys are visually similar to the structure of the user folders, allowing nested branches. The figure shows the main elements of the registry.

 

  1. Branch.
  2. Key.
  3. Subkey.
  4. Parameter.

A parameter has three characteristics: name, data type and value. A key can have only one parameter with no name, which serves as a default value for the key. It is recommended to give the parameter of the registry key a meaningful name, indicating its purpose.

Windows has a set of registry data types. The most commonly used types are described in the table.

Data type

Description

Purpose

REG_DWORD

A parameter of this type takes 4 bytes and is displayed in hexadecimal and decimal format

Many service or driver parameters are of this type. Example: 0x00000240(576) — decimal value of the parameter is given in parenthesis

REG_BINARY

Binary data in an arbitrary form. Maximum length of the parameter of this type is 16 bytes

Most information on hardware components is stored as binary data and displayed in the registry editor in the hexadecimal format, for example "01 00 00 00"

REG_SZ

A string ending with a null character

Example: "C:\Windows"

REG_MULTI_SZ

Multiline text. An array of strings ending with a null. An array ends with two null characters

This type usually has lists and other records in an easy-to-read format. The records are separated by spaces, commas, or other characters

REG_EXPAND_SZ

Data string of variable length ending with a null character

This type contains undisclosed links to environment variables

REG_FULL_RESOURCE
_DESCRIPTOR 

A sequence of nested arrays

This type is used for storing the list of device resources or drivers

Note

The settings in the Tweaki utility affect the values of the registry keys — see Tweaki.exe utility for advanced setup of the Intellect software system.

Registry keys reference guide

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