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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.
The registry can be edited by You can edit the registry using the regedit.exe program utility included in the standard set of service programs in Windows. The information about the OS settings is stored in two hidden files in a the Windows folderdirectory: system.dat and user.dat. The registry is a hierarchical tree structure, the branches of which constitute the keys that contain values or 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 The branch structure is visually similar to the structure of the user folders, allowing nested branches. Figure The figure shows the main elements of the registry.
- Branches;
- Keys;
- Subkeys;
- Parameters;
- Branch.
- Key.
- Subkey.
- Parameter.
A Each parameter has three componentscharacteristics: name, data type and value. A key can have only one parameter with no name, which serves as a default value of for the key. It is recommended to assign meaningful names to parametersgive the parameter of the registry key a meaningful name, indicating its purpose.
The values in the registry can be of particular 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 | A sequence of nested arrays |
This type is |
used for storing the list of device resources |
or drivers |
| Info | ||
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The settings in the Tweaki utility affect the values of the registry keys — see Tweaki.exe utility for advanced setup of the Axxon PSIM software system. |
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