The hierarchical database – Registry – for Windows stores settings and options for configuration on MS Windows operating systems.

The entire settings for low-level operating system components along with applications operable on that operating system are contained in the registry. It finds application in the kernels, SAM, device drivers, services, third party applications and user interface.

To boost computers performance, the registry also gives a method to use counters.

At the time registry was first coupled with Windows 3.1, its main aim was to store information on configuration of components based on COM.

But the use of Windows Registry extended with the launch of Windows NT and Windows 95. It included a large number of per-program INI files wherein configuration settings for Windows had been stored.

Keys and values are the two basic components of the Registry database.

Inside keys, Registry Values are stored and they actually represent name/data pairs.

The Windows API functions, which query and maneuver registry values, obtain the names of values distinctly from the key path and/or from the handle that recognizes the parent key.

However, the terminology is misguiding to some extent, as values are identical to an associative array, where basic terminology would recognize the values name portion as a “key”.

In Windows 3, keys were devoid of containing arbitrary names/data pairs, instead they contained only one unnamed value that needs to be a string.

The Windows registry can be edited in a manual way in MS Windows by executing regedt32.exe or regedit.exe in the directory of Windows.

This advantage could have serious consequences e.g. a slow XP if Registry editing is done carelessly. Thus, Microsoft recommends that before editing the Registry, backups should be performed to avoid damages. In fact, many industry experts like editors and authors of leading trade magazines have recommended this.

A straightforward implementation of the present-day registry tool surfaced in Windows 3.x operating system, dubbed as “Registration Info Editor” or simply “Registration Editor”.

This was a database of applications primarily used to edit inserted OLE objects in documents.

Here is the test of alertness as there are a lot of distinctions between the two editors available on these operating systems.

An integrated program of these two distinct programs was firstly seen in Windows XP. The operating system embraced the REGEDIT.EXE interface and infused the REGEDT32.EXE functionality into it.

These editors do not show such differences on Windows XP and newer systems. For instance – REGEDIT.EXE is the more refined and sophisticated editor, while REGEDT32.EXE is only a stub that invokes REGEDIT.EXE.

The Registry Editor permits users to carry out functions that follow:

• 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

Registry editing in Linux is also possible by making use of Offline NT Password and Registry Editor for editing files.