What You Should Know About Your Registry
Posted on September 19, 2007 at 5:39 pm by admin
Registry Structure
Windows operating systems launched prior to Windows 95 stored configuration information of all installed programs in their respective INI files. As each program required its own INI file, a lot of disk space was required for one application. To counter this problem, Microsoft introduced the registry with their Windows 95 operating system.
The registry was a big breakthrough because it provided a central location to store all hardware and software related configuration information. This not only helped in saving disk space, but also considerably enhanced PC performance.
The registry has tree-like hierarchical structure, which is a lot similar to the folders in Windows Explorer. On your Windows computer, you can view the registry from the Registry Editor that you can open by running the “Regedit” command from Start > Run.
The registry comprises five root keys—HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, HKEY_USERS, and HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG. Out of these HKEY_USERS and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE are the real root keys.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE contains all information related to installed software and hardware and HKEY_USERS comprises all information related to different user profiles created on your computer. The other three keys are user-specific mirror keys because they extract information according to the currently logged on user from the two real root keys. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG extract their information from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CURRENT_USER extracts the information from HKEY_USERS.
Need for Registry Repair
The registry changed the way Windows works by centralizing all configuration information. However, it is not fool proof. Because the registry is accessed for each and every task performed on your PC, the chances of registry errors are quite high. One of the common causes of registry problems is frequent program install and uninstall, especially incorrect uninstall because it increases the amount of unwanted information in the registry.
Many other daily activities, such as Web browsing, editing of system configuration, accessing and working with various installed applications and so on, also add numerous entries to the registry. Even malware, such as virus, Trojan, and spyware add a large amount of unwanted entries in the registry. All of these factors contribute to the increasing registry size. A large registry is prone to damage easily and generate various computer errors, such as runtime errors, DLL errors, and driver errors.
To prevent and fix computer errors generated by registry problems, you must perform regular registry repair.
Use Registry Cleaners to Perform Registry Repair
Opening the Registry Editor reveals that the registry is quite complex and it is not possible for a layman—perhaps even an experienced computer professional—to manually perform registry repair.
Therefore, just like all other PC maintenance tools, it is a good idea to opt for a registry cleaning tool to cleanup and repair the registry. Due to the increasing need, a large number of registry cleaner tools are available on the Internet and you can choose and download the one that best meets your requirements. While selecting a registry cleaner tool for yourself, you must ensure that it is compatible with your operating system and that it has good user feedback. As these tools work directly on the registry, a buggy tool can cause severe damage both to your registry and to your system.
Features of Registry Cleaners
Using a reliable and efficient registry cleaner, you can perform the following registry maintenance tasks:
Automatically and efficiently scan the registry for problems, and repair them.
Fix various computer errors, such as ActiveX/COM errors, DLL errors, Drivers Errors, and runtime errors.
Remove malicious entries added by malware programs and remove virus, spyware and other malicious programs from your system.
De-fragment the registry to compress it by removing unnecessary empty registry keys and make the registry files contiguous by re-indexing the registry files.
Make regular registry backups that you can use to restore the registry in case the current registry is damaged—you must always back up the registry before performing any major system configuration change, direct edits to the registry, and registry scan and repair using a registry tool.
Perform other system maintenance activities such as managing start up programs, Internet Browser Help Objects (BHOs), and unwanted Internet Files, such as cookies, temporary files, and history.
Registry health is crucial to maintain an error-free and efficient computer. Perform regular registry scan and repair using a reliable registry cleaner tool and ensure yourself a healthy, high performance PC.
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