Important role of Registry in window XP

Working with the registry is daunting if
you know little about it. Thus, in this part,
you master the
basic information you need to
successfully leverage the registry. For
example, you learn about the
contents of the registry and the types of
data you find in it. You learn how to back
up and restore the
registry, and how to edit the registry
using Registry Editor.

Start to know about the key elements in your system

The registry has a subtle but important role in Microsoft Windows XP. On one hand, the registry is
passive—it's just a big collection of settings sitting on your hard disk, and you probably don't think
much about it while you're editing a document, browsing the Internet, or searching for a file. On the
other hand, it plays a key role in all those activities. The settings in the registry determine how
Windows XP appears and how it behaves. They even control applications running on your
computer. This gives the registry great potential as a tool for power users or IT professionals,
enabling them to customize settings that aren't available in the user interface.
This chapter introduces the registry to you. First you learn about the registry's role and how it fits
into your world. Then I explain some important terminology to ensure that we're speaking the same
language, and you see how Windows XP organizes the registry. Next you learn about the tools I
use to edit the registry. And last, you see how Windows XP stores the registry on the hard disk.
Throughout this chapter, you'll find several tidbits that are useful beyond the registry. For example,
you learn about the two different architectures for storing numbers in memory, which IT
professionals run into as much outside the registry as inside.
Windows XP stores configuration data in the registry. The registry is a hierarchical database, which
you can describe as a central repository for configuration data (Microsoft's terminology) or a
configuration database (my terminology). A hierarchical database has characteristics that make it
ideally suited to storing configuration data. Lay out the database in a diagram, it looks like an outline or
organization chart. This allows settings to be referenced
using paths, similar to file paths in Windows XP. For example, the path (any)
references the shaded box. Also, each setting is an ordered pair that associates a value's name
with its data, similar to the way the IRS associates your social security number with your tax
records. The registry's hierarchical organization makes all settings easy to reference.
Registry Editor is the tool you use to edit the registry directly. You change the registry every time
you log on to the computer, but you do it indirectly through Control Panel or the Run dialog box,
which updates the registry's list of programs that you've run recently. With Registry Editor, you
affect settings without the help of a user interface. That makes Registry Editor one of the operating
system's most powerful and dangerous tools. On one hand, you can customize Microsoft Windows
XP in ways that aren't possible through the user interface. On the other hand, nothing is checking
the settings you change for sanity.
Every version of Windows since 3.1 has had a registry editor. The editor in Microsoft Windows 95
can search the registry and has a simple to use interface. Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 has an archaic
editor that can't search and is more difficult to use than the editor in Windows 95, but it has
capabilities unique to a secure operating system, such as the ability to set permissions on keys and
edit more advanced data types like REG_MULTI_SZ. Microsoft Windows 2000 provides both
editors, requiring you to switch back and forth to use each editor's unique abilities. Now, with
Windows XP, you get the best of both editors in a single program (insert applause for the
developers here).
Registry Editor in Windows XP is the tool you learn about in this chapter. It's the basis for just about
every set of instructions you see in this book. It is also the basis for many solutions you find in
Microsoft's Knowledge Base, the solutions that people post to UseNet, and so on. This chapter
contains more than just instructions for how to use the editor, though. You'll find useful tidbits of
information that come from my own experience using this program, such as how to search better
and how to quickly back up settings before changing them, which will hopefully make your
experience with the single most powerful tool in Windows XP a great one.
You won't find a shortcut to Registry Editor (Regedit) on the Start menu. You don't want to find a
shortcut to Regedit on the Start menu. Imagine what life as an IT professional or power user who
supports friends and relatives would be like if Microsoft advertised this program to every Windows
XP user on the planet. That's one reason why you find so little documentation about Regedit in Help
or elsewhere. That's also why Windows XP provides policies that you can use to limit access to
Regedit. IT professionals and power users have great need for Regedit, however—it's often the only
way to fix a problem or customize certain settings. For example, I recently used a program that
changed critical settings while it was running, and then restored them when the program shut down.
Unfortunately, the program crashed without restoring the settings and the only way I could get them
back to their original values was to edit the registry. Sometimes, it's the only tool for the job.
Note Regedit and Registry Editor are one and the same. Regedit.exe is the name of
Registry Editor's program file and it is easier to type, say, and read, so I will use the
term Regedit for Registry Editor throughout the remainder of this book.
Regedit is in %SYSTEMROOT%, C:\Windows on most computers. Click Start, Run, and type
regedit to run Regedit. You don't have to type the path. If you want to start Regedit even quicker,
drag Regedit.exe to your Quick Launch toolbar or to the Start button to add it to the top of your Start
menu.
How you can hacking the registry to make Microsoft Windows XP look and feel the way you
want. Rather than showing you how Windows XP organizes the registry, which is covered in the
chapters in Part IV, "Appendices," I'll show you the brute force hacks that immediately change the
way you use Windows XP. To make these customizations easier, I've included scripts for many of
them. Download these and new scripts at http://www.honeycutt.com.

I use the term hack loosely. These aren't security hacks or hacks that give you more features than
you're supposed to have. By no means am I helping you hack product activation. These are hacks
that help you customize the operating system in ways that you can't through its user interface. For
example, this chapter helps you customize the shortcut menus and the icons you see in the user
interface and change how Windows XP behaves. It even describes how you can automatically log
on to Windows XP, bypassing the Log On To Windows dialog box. You'll find some of these hacks
on various Web sites and FAQs, but hopefully I'm giving you many new ones that you won't find
anywhere else.
These hacks are for power users. If you're looking for customizations with an IT flavor, see Chapter
15, "Working Around IT Problems," which has customizations that help IT professionals deploy
Windows XP and solve particular IT problems. But even though the chapter you're reading now is
end user−oriented, IT professionals might find that its customizations are a good fit for their
enterprise users, and professionals can deploy those customizations in a variety of ways, including
default user profiles, policies, and scripts. For example, IT professionals frequently ask me how to
simulate IntelliMirror features like Folder Redirection without using policies, and the first hack shows
you how to do just that.

"Packed Guide Helps Users Overcome Their Fear Of
The Windows XP Registry!"
"How to safely use the Windows XP Registry TODAY..."

167 Pages and 12 Supporting Videos

Saving Time and Avoiding Frustration with the Windows XP Registry...

You may have seen all the websites that give away free information on powerful Windows XP
Registry edits to make your computer work the way you want it too...

Even Microsoft's own online knowledge base gives you recommended Registry edits in the
free support articles located there.

BUT what these sites DO NOT do is explain to you just what the Registry is all about and
HOW TO USE IT SAFELY! - There is so much mystery around the Registry that should not
be there...

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and start using the Registry TODAY!

Obviously you can see how using this Guide and Videos will clearly make you a more
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Just imagine days from now using this information to get the most out of your Windows XP
computer...
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