What Is The Windows Registry?

When you say the words “Windows registry” different people have different reactions. Some new computer users look at you with a blank stare, having never heard of the Windows registry. Some people look at you with a hint of fear in their eyes, because while they don’t know for sure exactly what the Windows registry is, they do know that you are never supposed to touch it unless you really know what you are doing. And, then there are the more expert computer users who smile and understand that the Windows registry is a powerful database which can be tweaked to make a computer system run better.

Whether you are new to computing or an expert, the Windows registry is not hard to understand of you take a bit of time to learn about it. While it is true that you should never go around recklessly changing things in the registry, there are things you can do to make your registry function at it’s best for your computer. The secret to the Windows registry is learning about it, and never changing anything in it if you do not know for sure what you are doing. When you stick to that rule, then you do not have to worry about ever making an error with the registry which could crash your computer or cause it to become unstable.

Windows Registry Basics

The Windows registry is simply a database which is at the heart of the Windows operating system. No matter which version of Windows software your PC is running, it has a registry. You may have never seen it, or you may never have heard of it, but rest assured – it is in there and working! If your PC did not have a registry, or it was not working correctly, then Windows would not run; it is really as simple as that.

When the Windows operating system is first installed on a PC, it creates the registry database. The registry database is at the center of how your operating system and your computer work. Every time you ask your computer system to do anything, from booting-up and starting Windows, to running a software application, to closing down at the end of the day, the Windows operating system relies on the registry to tell it how and where to find the things it needs.

As you install hardware and software on your computer, the registry database is updated with the information that Windows needs to use the new hardware or software; this way, when you use your computer it knows where to find things and how to make things work. The registry sits behind the scenes and tells the Windows operating system how to do things.

Registry Hives

The Windows registry contains five “hives” which contain keys, sub-keys, and values. Each time a new user logs-on to a computer a new hive for that user is created. In the user’s hive is stored all of that user’s application, network and system information.

The five hives in any Windows PC registry are the following:

* HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
* HKEY_CURRENT_USER
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
* HKEY_USERS
* HKEY_CURRET_CONFIG

If you would like to see the registry on your own PC you can go to Start->Run and type in “regedit.exe.”

(WARNING: DO NOT EVER CHANGE ANYTHING IN YOUR REGISTRY UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE CHANGING!)

For the most part, your PCs registry exists without you ever needing to do much with it. However, if your system starts giving you errors on start-up or slowing down, you might need to run a registry cleaning software on it. These software applications are used to clean-up and compact down the registry when it acquires errors from software install and un-installs. They are inexpensive, easy to use, and are much safer than trying to modify your registry by hand.

As you can see, the Windows registry is not something to be feared, but it is definitely something which you will want to leave alone if you do not know what you are doing. Through the use of registry cleaning software, you can safely modify your PC’s registry when it starts to slow your system down, or give you errors.

If you would like to download a free registry cleaner, we recommend the use of Regcure, as in our tests this is the best performing repair tool on the market.

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