The Registry is a heirarchical database within Windows 98 where all the system settings are stored. It has replaced all of the .ini files that were present in Windows 3.x. The data from system.ini, win.ini, control.ini, are all contained within it now, along with hundreds of other system settings. Additionally, all Windows 98 specific programs are now to store their initialization data within the Registry instead of in .ini files in your Windows folder.

RegEdit - The Registry Editor

The Registry cannot be viewed or edited with a normal editor - you must use a program included with Windows 98 called RegEdit (Registry editor). This program isn't listed on your START menu - you either need to add it, or just click on Start/Run, and type "regedit" in the input field. The Registry Editor will then start.

WARNING Be very careful while you are running RegEdit. You can easily render your machine un-bootable if you play with settings you aren't familiar with!

You may want to immediately back up your Registry before doing any editing, by using the command line switches.

RegEdit Command Line Switches:

RegEdit, the Registry Editing tool included with Windows 95, has a few command line switches for importing and exporting the Registry data:

• /e <file.reg -- This specifies that the complete registry should be exported (copied) to a file named file.reg. This is a good way to back up the registry.
• /c <file.reg -- This specifies the .REG file to use to overlay the entire registry. This is a VERY dangerous thing to do! Make sure you know you have the right file before replacing your entire registry in this manner!

Contents of the Registry

When you first start RegEdit, you'll see the following subtrees under the 'My Computer' header:

• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT: Contains software settings about drag-and-drop operations, handles shortcut information, and other user interface information. There will be a subkey for every file association you have defined.
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER: Information regarding the currently logged-on user (see HKEY_USERS below).
• AppEvents: contains the settings for which sounds to play for system sound events
• Control Panel: Control Panel settings are stored here, similar to system.ini and win.ini in Win 3.x.
• InstallLocationsMRU: appears to contain paths for Startup folder programs
• keyboard layout: specifies current keyboard layout
• Network: Network connection information
• RemoteAccess: Contains information about the current log-on location if using Dial-Up Networking
• Software: Software configuration settings for the currently logged-on user.
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE: Contains information about the hardware and software settings that are generic to all users of this computer. Subkeys include:
• Config: Configuration information
• Enum: Hardware device information, such as monitor settings
• Hardware: Serial communication port information and settings.
• Network: information about networks the user is currently logged onto.
• Security: network security settings.
• Software: Software-specific information and settings
• System: System startup and device driver information, and operating system settings.
• HKEY_USERS: Information about desktop and user settings for each user that logs onto this computer. Each user will have a subkey under this heading. if there is only one user, the subkey will be ".default"
• HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG: Contains info about the current hardware configuration, pointing to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
• HKEY_DYN_DATA: This key contains dynamic information about plug-n-play devices. The data here changes if devices are added or removed on the fly.