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data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.unpin">hide</button> </div> <ul class="vector-toc-contents" id="mw-panel-toc-list"> <li id="toc-mw-content-text" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a href="#" class="vector-toc-link"> <div class="vector-toc-text">(Top)</div> </a> </li> <li id="toc-Rationale" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Rationale"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1</span> <span>Rationale</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Rationale-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Structure_of_Registry_Key" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Structure_of_Registry_Key"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Structure of Registry Key</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Structure_of_Registry_Key-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Structure of Registry Key subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Structure_of_Registry_Key-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Keys_and_values" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Keys_and_values"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>Keys and values</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Keys_and_values-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Root_keys" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Root_keys"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2</span> <span>Root keys</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Root_keys-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE_(HKLM)" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE_(HKLM)"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.1</span> <span>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM)</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE_(HKLM)-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT_(HKCR)" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT_(HKCR)"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.2</span> <span>HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (HKCR)</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT_(HKCR)-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-HKEY_USERS_(HKU)" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#HKEY_USERS_(HKU)"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.3</span> <span>HKEY_USERS (HKU)</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-HKEY_USERS_(HKU)-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-HKEY_CURRENT_USER_(HKCU)" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#HKEY_CURRENT_USER_(HKCU)"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.4</span> <span>HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU)</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-HKEY_CURRENT_USER_(HKCU)-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-HKEY_PERFORMANCE_DATA" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#HKEY_PERFORMANCE_DATA"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.5</span> <span>HKEY_PERFORMANCE_DATA</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-HKEY_PERFORMANCE_DATA-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-HKEY_DYN_DATA" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#HKEY_DYN_DATA"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.6</span> <span>HKEY_DYN_DATA</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-HKEY_DYN_DATA-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Hives" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Hives"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.3</span> <span>Hives</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Hives-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-File_locations" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#File_locations"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.4</span> <span>File locations</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-File_locations-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Windows_NT" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Windows_NT"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.4.1</span> <span>Windows NT</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Windows_NT-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Windows_9x" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Windows_9x"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.4.2</span> <span>Windows 9x</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Windows_9x-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Windows_3.11" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Windows_3.11"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.4.3</span> <span>Windows 3.11</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Windows_3.11-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Windows_10_Mobile" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Windows_10_Mobile"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.4.4</span> <span>Windows 10 Mobile</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Windows_10_Mobile-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Editing" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Editing"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Editing</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Editing-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Editing subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Editing-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Registry_editors" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Registry_editors"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.1</span> <span>Registry editors</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Registry_editors-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-.REG_files" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#.REG_files"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.2</span> <span>.REG files</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-.REG_files-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Group_policies" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Group_policies"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.3</span> <span>Group policies</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Group_policies-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Command_line_editing" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Command_line_editing"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.4</span> <span>Command line editing</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Command_line_editing-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-PowerShell_commands_and_scripts" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#PowerShell_commands_and_scripts"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.5</span> <span>PowerShell commands and scripts</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-PowerShell_commands_and_scripts-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Programs_or_scripts" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Programs_or_scripts"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.6</span> <span>Programs or scripts</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Programs_or_scripts-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Offline_editing" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Offline_editing"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.7</span> <span>Offline editing</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Offline_editing-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-COM_self-registration" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#COM_self-registration"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.8</span> <span>COM self-registration</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-COM_self-registration-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Advanced_functionality" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Advanced_functionality"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.9</span> <span>Advanced functionality</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Advanced_functionality-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Security" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Security"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Security</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Security-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Backups_and_recovery" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Backups_and_recovery"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Backups and recovery</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Backups_and_recovery-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Policy" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Policy"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>Policy</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Policy-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Policy subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Policy-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Group_policy" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Group_policy"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6.1</span> <span>Group policy</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Group_policy-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Legacy_systems" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Legacy_systems"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6.2</span> <span>Legacy systems</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Legacy_systems-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Virtualization" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Virtualization"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>Virtualization</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Virtualization-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Virtualization subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Virtualization-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-INI_file_virtualization" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#INI_file_virtualization"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7.1</span> <span>INI file virtualization</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-INI_file_virtualization-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Registry_virtualization" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Registry_virtualization"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7.2</span> <span>Registry virtualization</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Registry_virtualization-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Disadvantages" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Disadvantages"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>Disadvantages</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Disadvantages-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Equivalents_and_alternatives" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Equivalents_and_alternatives"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">9</span> <span>Equivalents and alternatives</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Equivalents_and_alternatives-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">10</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Notes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Notes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">11</span> <span>Notes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Notes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Footnotes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Footnotes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">12</span> <span>Footnotes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Footnotes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">13</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">14</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows Registry</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 29 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-29" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">29 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A9_%D8%B3%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA_%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B2" title="قاعدة سجلات ويندوز – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="قاعدة سجلات ويندوز" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-az mw-list-item"><a href="https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_reyestri" title="Windows reyestri – Azerbaijani" lang="az" hreflang="az" data-title="Windows reyestri" data-language-autonym="Azərbaycanca" data-language-local-name="Azerbaijani" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Azərbaycanca</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bg mw-list-item"><a href="https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Registry" title="Windows Registry – Bulgarian" lang="bg" hreflang="bg" data-title="Windows Registry" data-language-autonym="Български" data-language-local-name="Bulgarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Български</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bs mw-list-item"><a href="https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Registry" title="Windows Registry – Bosnian" lang="bs" hreflang="bs" data-title="Windows Registry" data-language-autonym="Bosanski" data-language-local-name="Bosnian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bosanski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registr_Windows" title="Registr Windows – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Registr Windows" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registrierungsdatenbank" title="Registrierungsdatenbank – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Registrierungsdatenbank" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registro_de_Windows" title="Registro de Windows – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Registro de Windows" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D8%AC%DB%8C%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%B1%DB%8C_%D9%88%DB%8C%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B2" title="رجیستری ویندوز – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="رجیستری ویندوز" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_de_registre" title="Base de registre – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Base de registre" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%9C%88%EB%8F%84%EC%9A%B0_%EB%A0%88%EC%A7%80%EC%8A%A4%ED%8A%B8%EB%A6%AC" title="윈도우 레지스트리 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="윈도우 레지스트리" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Registry" title="Windows Registry – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Windows Registry" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Indonesia</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registro_di_sistema" title="Registro di sistema – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Registro di sistema" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-he mw-list-item"><a href="https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registry" title="Registry – Hebrew" lang="he" hreflang="he" data-title="Registry" data-language-autonym="עברית" data-language-local-name="Hebrew" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>עברית</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hu mw-list-item"><a href="https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Windows_rendszerle%C3%ADr%C3%B3_adatb%C3%A1zisa" title="A Windows rendszerleíró adatbázisa – Hungarian" lang="hu" hreflang="hu" data-title="A Windows rendszerleíró adatbázisa" data-language-autonym="Magyar" data-language-local-name="Hungarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Magyar</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ml mw-list-item"><a href="https://ml.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B4%B5%E0%B4%BF%E0%B5%BB%E0%B4%A1%E0%B5%8B%E0%B4%B8%E0%B5%8D_%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%9C%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%B8%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%9F%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%BF" title="വിൻഡോസ് രജിസ്ട്രി – Malayalam" lang="ml" hreflang="ml" data-title="വിൻഡോസ് രജിസ്ട്രി" data-language-autonym="മലയാളം" data-language-local-name="Malayalam" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>മലയാളം</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Register_(Windows)" title="Register (Windows) – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Register (Windows)" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B8%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%83%AA" title="レジストリ – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="レジストリ" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rejestr_(Windows)" title="Rejestr (Windows) – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Rejestr (Windows)" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registro_do_Windows" title="Registro do Windows – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Registro do Windows" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ro mw-list-item"><a href="https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registru_Windows" title="Registru Windows – Romanian" lang="ro" hreflang="ro" data-title="Registru Windows" data-language-autonym="Română" data-language-local-name="Romanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Română</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80_Windows" title="Реестр Windows – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Реестр Windows" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sq mw-list-item"><a href="https://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regjistri_i_sistemit" title="Regjistri i sistemit – Albanian" lang="sq" hreflang="sq" data-title="Regjistri i sistemit" data-language-autonym="Shqip" data-language-local-name="Albanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Shqip</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sr mw-list-item"><a href="https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%83%D1%81_%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80" title="Виндоус регистар – Serbian" lang="sr" hreflang="sr" data-title="Виндоус регистар" data-language-autonym="Српски / srpski" data-language-local-name="Serbian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Српски / srpski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sh mw-list-item"><a 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class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Українська</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-vi mw-list-item"><a href="https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Registry" title="Windows Registry – Vietnamese" lang="vi" hreflang="vi" data-title="Windows Registry" data-language-autonym="Tiếng Việt" data-language-local-name="Vietnamese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Tiếng Việt</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-wuu mw-list-item"><a href="https://wuu.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B3%A8%E5%86%8C%E8%A1%A8" title="注册表 – Wu" lang="wuu" hreflang="wuu" data-title="注册表" data-language-autonym="吴语" data-language-local-name="Wu" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>吴语</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B3%A8%E5%86%8C%E8%A1%A8" title="注册表 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="注册表" data-language-autonym="中文" data-language-local-name="Chinese" 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</div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Database for Microsoft Windows</div> <p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1257001546">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><table class="infobox vevent"><caption class="infobox-title summary">Windows Registry</caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image logo"><span class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Frameless"><a href="/wiki/File:Registry.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Registry.svg/120px-Registry.svg.png" decoding="async" width="120" height="128" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Registry.svg/180px-Registry.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Registry.svg/240px-Registry.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="547" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image logo"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Regstry_Editor.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/52/Regstry_Editor.png/300px-Regstry_Editor.png" decoding="async" width="300" height="197" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/52/Regstry_Editor.png/450px-Regstry_Editor.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/52/Regstry_Editor.png 2x" data-file-width="535" data-file-height="351" /></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">Registry Editor, the user interface for the registry, in <a href="/wiki/Windows_11" title="Windows 11">Windows 11</a></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="/wiki/Programmer" title="Programmer">Developer(s)</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Microsoft" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;">Initial release</th><td class="infobox-data">April 6, 1992<span class="noprint">; 32 years ago</span><span style="display:none"> (<span class="bday dtstart published updated">1992-04-06</span>)</span> with <a href="/wiki/Windows_3.1" title="Windows 3.1">Windows 3.1</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="/wiki/Operating_system" title="Operating system">Operating system</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Windows" title="Microsoft Windows">Microsoft Windows</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="/wiki/Computing_platform" title="Computing platform">Platform</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/IA-32" title="IA-32">IA-32</a>, <a href="/wiki/X86-64" title="X86-64">x86-64</a> and <a href="/wiki/ARM_architecture" class="mw-redirect" title="ARM architecture">ARM</a> (and historically <a href="/wiki/DEC_Alpha" title="DEC Alpha">DEC Alpha</a>, <a href="/wiki/Itanium" title="Itanium">Itanium</a>, <a href="/wiki/MIPS_architecture" title="MIPS architecture">MIPS</a>, and <a href="/wiki/PowerPC" title="PowerPC">PowerPC</a>)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;">Included with</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Windows" title="Microsoft Windows">Microsoft Windows</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="/wiki/Software_categories#Categorization_approaches" title="Software categories">Type</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Hierarchical_database" class="mw-redirect" title="Hierarchical database">Hierarchical database</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="/wiki/Software_license" title="Software license">License</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Proprietary_software" title="Proprietary software">Proprietary</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;">Website</th><td class="infobox-data"><span class="url"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/sysinfo/registry">learn<wbr />.microsoft<wbr />.com<wbr />/en-us<wbr />/windows<wbr />/win32<wbr />/sysinfo<wbr />/registry</a></span> <span class="penicon autoconfirmed-show"><span class="mw-valign-text-top" typeof="mw:File/Frameless"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q463244?uselang=en#P856" title="Edit this on Wikidata"><img alt="Edit this on Wikidata" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/10px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png" decoding="async" width="10" height="10" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/15px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/20px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="20" data-file-height="20" /></a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The <b>Windows Registry</b> is a <a href="/wiki/Hierarchical_database" class="mw-redirect" title="Hierarchical database">hierarchical database</a> that stores <a href="/wiki/High-_and_low-level" title="High- and low-level">low-level</a> settings for the <a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Windows" title="Microsoft Windows">Microsoft Windows</a> operating system and for applications that opt to use the registry. The <a href="/wiki/Kernel_(operating_system)" title="Kernel (operating system)">kernel</a>, <a href="/wiki/Device_driver" title="Device driver">device drivers</a>, <a href="/wiki/Windows_service" title="Windows service">services</a>, <a href="/wiki/Security_Accounts_Manager" class="mw-redirect" title="Security Accounts Manager">Security Accounts Manager</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Graphical_user_interface" title="Graphical user interface">user interfaces</a> can all use the registry. The registry also allows access to <a href="/wiki/Instrumentation_(computer_programming)" title="Instrumentation (computer programming)">counters</a> for profiling system performance. </p><p>In other words, the registry or Windows Registry contains information, settings, options, and other values for programs and hardware installed on all versions of Microsoft Windows operating systems. For example, when a program is installed, a new subkey containing settings such as a program's location, its version, and how to start the program, are all added to the Windows Registry. </p><p>When introduced with <a href="/wiki/Windows_3.1" title="Windows 3.1">Windows 3.1</a>, the Windows Registry primarily stored configuration information for <a href="/wiki/Component_Object_Model" title="Component Object Model">COM</a>-based components. <a href="/wiki/Windows_95" title="Windows 95">Windows 95</a> and <a href="/wiki/Windows_NT" title="Windows NT">Windows NT</a> extended its use to rationalize and centralize the information in the profusion of <a href="/wiki/INI_file" title="INI file">INI files</a>, which held the configurations for individual programs, and were stored at various locations.<sup id="cite_ref-Reghist_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Reghist-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-SystemRegistry_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-SystemRegistry-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It is not a requirement for Windows applications to use the Windows Registry. For example, <a href="/wiki/.NET_Framework" title=".NET Framework">.NET Framework</a> applications use <a href="/wiki/XML" title="XML">XML</a> files for configuration, while <a href="/wiki/Portable_application" title="Portable application">portable applications</a> usually keep their configuration files with their <a href="/wiki/Executable" title="Executable">executables</a>. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Rationale">Rationale</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Rationale"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Prior to the Windows Registry, .<a href="/wiki/INI_file" title="INI file">INI files</a> stored each program's settings as a <a href="/wiki/Text_file" title="Text file">text file</a> or <a href="/wiki/Binary_file" title="Binary file">binary file</a>, often located in a shared location that did not provide user-specific settings in a multi-user scenario. By contrast, the Windows Registry stores all application settings in one logical repository (but a number of discrete files) and in a standardized form. According to <a href="/wiki/Microsoft" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a>, this offers several advantages over .INI files.<sup id="cite_ref-SystemRegistry_2-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-SystemRegistry-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Since file parsing is done much more efficiently with a binary format, it may be read from or written to more quickly than a text INI file. Furthermore, <a href="/wiki/Strong_typing" class="mw-redirect" title="Strong typing">strongly typed data</a> can be stored in the registry, as opposed to the text information stored in .INI files. This is a benefit when editing keys manually using <code>regedit.exe</code>, the built-in Windows Registry Editor. Because user-based registry settings are loaded from a user-specific path rather than from a read-only system location, the registry allows multiple users to share the same machine, and also allows programs to work for less privileged users. Backup and restoration is also simplified as the registry can be accessed over a network connection for remote management/support, including from scripts, using the standard set of <a href="/wiki/API" title="API">APIs</a>, as long as the Remote Registry <a href="/wiki/Windows_service" title="Windows service">service</a> is running and firewall rules permit this. </p><p>Because the registry is a database, it offers improved system integrity with features such as <a href="/wiki/Atomic_update" class="mw-redirect" title="Atomic update">atomic updates</a>. If two processes attempt to update the same registry value at the same time, one process's change will precede the other's and the overall consistency of the data will be maintained. Where changes are made to .INI files, such <a href="/wiki/Race_condition" title="Race condition">race conditions</a> can result in inconsistent data that does not match either attempted update. Windows Vista and later operating systems provide transactional updates to the registry by means of the <a href="/wiki/Kernel_Transaction_Manager" title="Kernel Transaction Manager">Kernel Transaction Manager</a>, extending the atomicity guarantees across multiple key or value changes with traditional commit–abort semantics. (Note however that <a href="/wiki/NTFS" title="NTFS">NTFS</a> provides such support for the file system as well, so the same guarantees could, in theory, be obtained with traditional configuration files.) </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Structure_of_Registry_Key">Structure of Registry Key</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Structure of Registry Key"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Keys_and_values">Keys and values</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Keys and values"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The registry contains two basic elements: <b>keys</b> and <b>values</b>. Registry <i>keys</i> are container objects similar to folders. Registry <i>values</i> are non-container objects similar to files. Keys may contain values and subkeys. Keys are referenced with a syntax similar to Windows' path names, using backslashes to indicate levels of hierarchy. Keys must have a <a href="/wiki/Case_sensitivity" title="Case sensitivity">case insensitive</a> name without backslashes. </p><p>The hierarchy of registry keys can only be accessed from a known root key handle (which is anonymous but whose effective value is a constant numeric handle) that is mapped to the content of a registry key preloaded by the kernel from a stored "hive", or to the content of a subkey within another root key, or mapped to a registered service or DLL that provides access to its contained subkeys and values. </p><p>E.g. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows refers to the subkey "Windows" of the subkey "Microsoft" of the subkey "Software" of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE root key. </p><p>There are seven predefined root keys, traditionally named according to their constant handles defined in the Win32 API, or by synonymous abbreviations (depending on applications):<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHipson20025,_41–43_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHipson20025,_41–43-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <ul><li>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKLM</li> <li>HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG or HKCC</li> <li>HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT or HKCR</li> <li>HKEY_CURRENT_USER or HKCU</li> <li>HKEY_USERS or HKU</li> <li>HKEY_PERFORMANCE_DATA (only in Windows NT, but invisible in the Windows Registry Editor)<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>HKEY_DYN_DATA (only in Windows 9x, and visible in the Windows Registry Editor)</li></ul> <p>Like other files and services in Windows, all registry keys may be restricted by <a href="/wiki/Access_control_list" class="mw-redirect" title="Access control list">access control lists</a> (ACLs), depending on user privileges, or on security tokens acquired by applications, or on system security policies enforced by the system (these restrictions may be predefined by the system itself, and configured by local system administrators or by domain administrators). Different users, programs, services or remote systems may only see some parts of the hierarchy or distinct hierarchies from the same root keys. </p><p>Registry <i>values</i> are name/data pairs stored within keys. Registry values are referenced separately from registry keys. Each registry value stored in a registry key has a unique name whose letter case is not significant. The <a href="/wiki/Windows_API" title="Windows API">Windows API</a> functions that query and manipulate registry values take value names separately from the key path or handle that identifies the parent key. Registry values may contain backslashes in their names, but doing so makes them difficult to distinguish from their key paths when using some legacy Windows Registry API functions (whose usage is deprecated in Win32). </p><p>The terminology is somewhat misleading, as each registry key is similar to an <a href="/wiki/Associative_array" title="Associative array">associative array</a>, where standard terminology would refer to the name part of each registry value as a "key". The terms are a holdout from the 16-bit registry in Windows 3, in which registry keys could not contain arbitrary name/data pairs, but rather contained only one unnamed value (which had to be a string). In this sense, the Windows 3 registry was like a single associative array, in which the keys (in the sense of both 'registry key' and 'associative array key') formed a hierarchy, and the registry values were all strings. When the 32-bit registry was created, so was the additional capability of creating multiple named values per key, and the meanings of the names were somewhat distorted.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> For compatibility with the previous behavior, each registry key may have a "default" value, whose name is the empty string. </p><p>Each value can store arbitrary data with variable length and encoding, but which is associated with a symbolic type (defined as a numeric constant) defining how to parse this data. The standard types are:<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHipson2002207,_513–514_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHipson2002207,_513–514-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <table class="wikitable"> <caption>List of standard registry value types </caption> <tbody><tr> <th>Type ID</th> <th>Symbolic type name</th> <th>Meaning and encoding of the data stored in the registry value </th></tr> <tr> <td>0</td> <td>REG_NONE</td> <td>No type (the stored value, if any) </td></tr> <tr> <td>1</td> <td>REG_SZ</td> <td>A <a href="/wiki/String_(computer_science)" title="String (computer science)">string</a> value, normally stored and exposed in <a href="/wiki/UTF-16" title="UTF-16">UTF-16</a>LE (when using the Unicode version of Win32 API functions), usually terminated by a NUL character </td></tr> <tr> <td>2</td> <td>REG_EXPAND_SZ</td> <td>An "expandable" string value that can contain <a href="/wiki/Environment_variable" title="Environment variable">environment variables</a>, normally stored and exposed in UTF-16LE, usually terminated by a NUL character </td></tr> <tr> <td>3</td> <td>REG_BINARY</td> <td>Binary data (any arbitrary data) </td></tr> <tr> <td>4</td> <td>REG_DWORD / REG_DWORD_LITTLE_ENDIAN</td> <td>A <a href="/wiki/Dword_(Computer)" class="mw-redirect" title="Dword (Computer)">DWORD</a> value, a 32-bit <a href="/wiki/Signedness" title="Signedness">unsigned</a> <a href="/wiki/Integer" title="Integer">integer</a> (numbers between 0 and 4,294,967,295 [2<sup>32</sup> – 1]) (little-<a href="/wiki/Endianness" title="Endianness">endian</a>) </td></tr> <tr> <td>5</td> <td>REG_DWORD_BIG_ENDIAN</td> <td>A <a href="/wiki/Dword_(Computer)" class="mw-redirect" title="Dword (Computer)">DWORD</a> value, a 32-bit <a href="/wiki/Signedness" title="Signedness">unsigned</a> <a href="/wiki/Integer" title="Integer">integer</a> (numbers between 0 and 4,294,967,295 [2<sup>32</sup> – 1]) (big-<a href="/wiki/Endianness" title="Endianness">endian</a>) </td></tr> <tr> <td>6</td> <td>REG_LINK</td> <td>A symbolic link (UNICODE) to another registry key, specifying a root key and the path to the target key </td></tr> <tr> <td>7</td> <td>REG_MULTI_SZ</td> <td>A multi-string value, which is an ordered list of non-empty <a href="/wiki/String_(computer_science)" title="String (computer science)">strings</a>, normally stored and exposed in Unicode, each one terminated by a null character, the list being normally terminated by a second null character.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHipson2002520–521_8-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHipson2002520–521-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </td></tr> <tr> <td>8</td> <td>REG_RESOURCE_LIST</td> <td>A resource list (used by the <i>Plug-n-Play</i> hardware enumeration and configuration) </td></tr> <tr> <td>9</td> <td>REG_FULL_RESOURCE_DESCRIPTOR</td> <td>A resource descriptor (used by the <i>Plug-n-Play</i> hardware enumeration and configuration) </td></tr> <tr> <td>10</td> <td>REG_RESOURCE_REQUIREMENTS_LIST</td> <td>A resource requirements list (used by the <i>Plug-n-Play</i> hardware enumeration and configuration) </td></tr> <tr> <td>11</td> <td>REG_QWORD / REG_QWORD_LITTLE_ENDIAN</td> <td>A <a href="/wiki/Word_(computer_architecture)#Size_families" title="Word (computer architecture)">QWORD</a> value, a 64-bit integer (either big- or little-endian, or unspecified) (introduced in <a href="/wiki/Windows_2000" title="Windows 2000">Windows 2000</a>)<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHipson20027_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHipson20027-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Root_keys">Root keys</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Root keys"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The keys at the root level of the hierarchical database are generally named by their <a href="/wiki/Windows_API" title="Windows API">Windows API</a> definitions, which all begin "HKEY".<sup id="cite_ref-SystemRegistry_2-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-SystemRegistry-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> They are frequently abbreviated to a three- or four-letter short name starting with "HK" (e.g. HKCU and HKLM). Technically, they are predefined handles (with known constant values) to specific keys that are either maintained in memory, or stored in hive files stored in the local filesystem and loaded by the system kernel at boot time and then shared (with various access rights) between all processes running on the local system, or loaded and mapped in all processes started in a user session when the user logs on the system. </p><p>The HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (local machine-specific configuration data) and HKEY_CURRENT_USER (user-specific configuration data) nodes have a similar structure to each other; user applications typically look up their settings by first checking for them in "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Vendor's name\Application's name\Version\Setting name", and if the setting is not found, look instead in the same location under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key. However, the converse may apply for administrator-enforced <a href="/wiki/Group_Policy" title="Group Policy">policy</a> settings where HKLM may take precedence over HKCU. The <a href="/wiki/WHQL_Testing" title="WHQL Testing">Windows Logo Program</a> has specific requirements for where different types of user data may be stored, and that the concept of <a href="/wiki/Principle_of_least_privilege" title="Principle of least privilege">least privilege</a> be followed so that administrator-level access is not required to use an application.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>a<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE_(HKLM)"><span id="HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE_.28HKLM.29"></span>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM)</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Abbreviated HKLM, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE stores settings that are specific to the local computer.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The key located by HKLM is actually not stored on disk, but maintained in memory by the system kernel in order to map all the other subkeys. Applications cannot create any additional subkeys. On Windows NT, this key contains four subkeys, "SAM", "SECURITY", "SYSTEM", and "SOFTWARE", that are loaded at boot time within their respective files located in the %SystemRoot%\System32\config\ folder. A fifth subkey, "HARDWARE", is volatile and is created dynamically, and as such is not stored in a file (it exposes a view of all the currently detected Plug-and-Play devices). On Windows Vista and above, a sixth and seventh subkey, "COMPONENTS" and "BCD", are mapped in memory by the kernel on-demand and loaded from %SystemRoot%\System32\config\COMPONENTS or from boot configuration data, \boot\BCD on the system partition. </p> <ul><li>The "HKLM\SAM" key usually appears as empty for most users (unless they are granted access by administrators of the local system or administrators of domains managing the local system). It is used to reference all "<a href="/wiki/Security_Accounts_Manager" class="mw-redirect" title="Security Accounts Manager">Security Accounts Manager</a>" (SAM) databases for all domains into which the local system has been administratively authorized or configured (including the local domain of the running system, whose SAM database is stored in a subkey also named "SAM": other subkeys will be created as needed, one for each supplementary domain). Each SAM database contains all builtin accounts (mostly group aliases) and configured accounts (users, groups and their aliases, including guest accounts and administrator accounts) created and configured on the respective domain, for each account in that domain, it notably contains the user name which can be used to log on that domain, the internal unique user identifier in the domain, a <a href="/wiki/Cryptographic_hash_function" title="Cryptographic hash function">cryptographic hash</a> of each user's password for each enabled <a href="/wiki/Authentication_protocol" title="Authentication protocol">authentication protocol</a>, the location of storage of their user registry hive, various status flags (for example if the account can be enumerated and be visible in the logon prompt screen), and the list of domains (including the local domain) into which the account was configured.</li> <li>The "HKLM\SECURITY" key usually appears empty for most users (unless they are granted access by users with administrative privileges) and is linked to the Security database of the domain into which the current user is logged on (if the user is logged on the local system domain, this key will be linked to the registry hive stored by the local machine and managed by local system administrators or by the builtin "System" account and Windows installers). The kernel will access it to read and enforce the security policy applicable to the current user and all applications or operations executed by this user. It also contains a "SAM" subkey which is dynamically linked to the SAM database of the domain onto which the current user is logged on.</li> <li>The "HKLM\SYSTEM" key is normally only writable by users with administrative privileges on the local system. It contains information about the Windows system setup, data for the secure random number generator (RNG), the list of currently mounted devices containing a filesystem, several numbered "HKLM\SYSTEM\Control Sets" containing alternative configurations for system hardware drivers and services running on the local system (including the currently used one and a backup), a "HKLM\SYSTEM\Select" subkey containing the status of these Control Sets, and a "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet" which is dynamically linked at boot time to the Control Set which is currently used on the local system. Each configured Control Set contains: <ul><li>an "Enum" subkey enumerating all known Plug-and-Play devices and associating them with installed system drivers (and storing the device-specific configurations of these drivers),</li> <li>a "Services" subkey listing all installed system drivers (with non device-specific configuration, and the enumeration of devices for which they are instantiated) and all programs running as services (how and when they can be automatically started),</li> <li>a "Control" subkey organizing the various hardware drivers and programs running as services and all other system-wide configuration,</li> <li>a "Hardware Profiles" subkey enumerating the various profiles that have been tuned (each one with "System" or "Software" settings used to modify the default profile, either in system drivers and services or in the applications) as well as the "Hardware Profiles\Current" subkey which is dynamically linked to one of these profiles.</li></ul></li> <li>The "HKLM\SOFTWARE" subkey contains software and Windows settings (in the default hardware profile). It is mostly modified by application and system installers. It is organized by software vendor (with a subkey for each), but also contains a "Windows" subkey for some settings of the Windows user interface, a "Classes" subkey containing all registered associations from file extensions, MIME types, Object Classes IDs and interfaces IDs (for OLE, COM/DCOM and ActiveX), to the installed applications or DLLs that may be handling these types on the local machine (however these associations are configurable for each user, see below), and a "Policies" subkey (also organized by vendor) for enforcing general usage policies on applications and system services (including the central certificates store used for authenticating, authorizing or disallowing remote systems or services running outside the local network domain).</li> <li>The "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node" key is used by 32-bit applications on a 64-bit Windows OS, and is equivalent to but separate from "HKLM\SOFTWARE". The key path is transparently presented to 32-bit applications by <a href="/wiki/WoW64" title="WoW64">WoW64</a> as HKLM\SOFTWARE<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> (in a similar way that 64-bit applications see %SystemRoot%\Syswow64 as %SystemRoot%\System32)</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT_(HKCR)"><span id="HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT_.28HKCR.29"></span>HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (HKCR)</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (HKCR)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <dl><dd>Abbreviated HKCR, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT contains information about registered applications, such as <a href="/wiki/File_association" title="File association">file associations</a> and <a href="/wiki/Object_linking_and_embedding" class="mw-redirect" title="Object linking and embedding">OLE</a> Object Class IDs, tying them to the applications used to handle these items. On <a href="/wiki/Windows_2000" title="Windows 2000">Windows 2000</a> and above, HKCR is a compilation of user-based HKCU\Software\Classes and machine-based HKLM\Software\Classes. If a given value exists in both of the subkeys above, the one in HKCU\Software\Classes takes precedence.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The design allows for either machine- or user-specific registration of <a href="/wiki/Component_Object_Model" title="Component Object Model">COM</a> objects.</dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="HKEY_USERS_(HKU)"><span id="HKEY_USERS_.28HKU.29"></span>HKEY_USERS (HKU)</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: HKEY_USERS (HKU)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <dl><dd>Abbreviated HKU, HKEY_USERS contains subkeys corresponding to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER keys for each user profile actively loaded on the machine, though user hives are usually only loaded for currently logged-in users.</dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="HKEY_CURRENT_USER_(HKCU)"><span id="HKEY_CURRENT_USER_.28HKCU.29"></span>HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU)</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <dl><dd>Abbreviated HKCU, HKEY_CURRENT_USER stores settings that are specific to the currently logged-in user.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The HKEY_CURRENT_USER key is a link to the subkey of HKEY_USERS that corresponds to the user; the same information is accessible in both locations. The specific subkey referenced is "(HKU)\(SID)\..." where (SID) corresponds to the <a href="/wiki/Windows_SID" class="mw-redirect" title="Windows SID">Windows SID</a>; if the "(HKCU)" key has the following suffix "(HKCU)\Software\Classes\..." then it corresponds to "(HKU)\(SID)_CLASSES\..." i.e. the suffix string "_CLASSES" is appended to the (SID).</dd></dl> <dl><dd>On Windows NT systems, each user's settings are stored in their own files called NTUSER.DAT and USRCLASS.DAT inside their own Documents and Settings subfolder (or their own Users sub folder in Windows Vista and above). Settings in this hive follow users with a <a href="/wiki/Roaming_user_profile" title="Roaming user profile">roaming profile</a> from machine to machine.</dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="HKEY_PERFORMANCE_DATA">HKEY_PERFORMANCE_DATA</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: HKEY_PERFORMANCE_DATA"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <dl><dd>This key provides runtime information into performance data provided by either the NT kernel itself, or running system drivers, programs and services that provide performance data. This key is not stored in any hive and not displayed in the Registry Editor, but it is visible through the registry functions in the Windows API, or in a simplified view via the Performance tab of the Task Manager (only for a few performance data on the local system) or via more advanced control panels (such as the Performances Monitor or the Performances Analyzer which allows collecting and logging these data, including from remote systems).</dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="HKEY_DYN_DATA">HKEY_DYN_DATA</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: HKEY_DYN_DATA"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <dl><dd>This key is used only in Windows 95, <a href="/wiki/Windows_98" title="Windows 98">Windows 98</a> and <a href="/wiki/Windows_ME" class="mw-redirect" title="Windows ME">Windows ME</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It contains information about hardware devices, including Plug and Play and network performance statistics. The information in this hive is also not stored on the hard drive; the Plug and Play information is gathered and configured at startup and is stored in memory.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Hives">Hives</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Hives"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Even though the registry presents itself as an integrated hierarchical database, branches of the registry are actually stored in a number of disk files called <i>hives</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> (The word hive constitutes an <a href="/wiki/In-joke" title="In-joke">in-joke</a>.)<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Some hives are volatile and are not stored on disk at all. An example of this is the hive of the branch starting at HKLM\HARDWARE. This hive records information about system hardware and is created each time the system boots and performs hardware detection. </p><p>Individual settings for users on a system are stored in a hive (disk file) per user. During user login, the system loads the user hive under the HKEY_USERS key and sets the HKCU (HKEY_CURRENT_USER) symbolic reference to point to the current user. This allows applications to store/retrieve settings for the current user implicitly under the HKCU key. </p><p>Not all hives are loaded at any one time. At boot time, only a minimal set of hives are loaded, and after that, hives are loaded as the operating system initializes and as users log in or whenever a hive is explicitly loaded by an application. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="File_locations">File locations</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: File locations"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The registry is physically stored in several files, which are generally obfuscated from the user-mode APIs used to manipulate the data inside the registry. Depending upon the version of Windows, there will be different files and different locations for these files, but they are all on the local machine. The location for system registry files in Windows NT is <code>%SystemRoot%\System32\config\</code>; the user-specific HKEY_CURRENT_USER user registry hive is stored in <code>Ntuser.dat</code> inside the user profile. There is one of these per user; if a user has a <a href="/wiki/Roaming_user_profile" title="Roaming user profile">roaming profile</a>, then this file will be copied to and from a <a href="/wiki/Server_(computing)" title="Server (computing)">server</a> at logout and login respectively. A second user-specific registry file named UsrClass.dat contains COM registry entries and does not roam by default. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Windows_NT">Windows NT</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Windows NT"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Windows NT systems store the registry in a binary file format which can be exported, loaded and unloaded by the Registry Editor in these operating systems. The following system registry files are stored in <code>%SystemRoot%\System32\config\</code>: </p> <ul><li><code>Sam</code> – HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SAM</li> <li><code>Security</code> – HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SECURITY</li> <li><code>Software</code> – HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE</li> <li><code>System</code> – HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM</li> <li><code>Default</code> – HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT</li> <li><code>Userdiff</code> – Not associated with a hive. Used only when upgrading operating systems.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <p>The following file is stored in each user's profile folder: </p> <ul><li><code>%USERPROFILE%\Ntuser.dat</code> – HKEY_USERS\<<a href="/wiki/Security_Identifier" title="Security Identifier">User SID</a>> (linked to by HKEY_CURRENT_USER)</li></ul> <p>For Windows 2000, Server 2003 and Windows XP, the following additional user-specific file is used for file associations and COM information: </p> <ul><li><code>%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\Usrclass.dat</code> (path is localized) – HKEY_USERS\<User SID>_Classes (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes)</li></ul> <p>For Windows Vista and later, the path was changed to: </p> <ul><li><code>%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Usrclass.dat</code> (path is not localized) alias <code>%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Usrclass.dat</code> – HKEY_USERS\<User SID>_Classes (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes)</li></ul> <p>Windows 2000 keeps an alternate copy of the registry hives (.ALT) and attempts to switch to it when corruption is detected.<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 do not maintain a <code>System.alt</code> hive because <a href="/wiki/NTLDR" title="NTLDR">NTLDR</a> on those versions of Windows can process the <code>System.log</code> file to bring up to date a System hive that has become inconsistent during a shutdown or crash. In addition, the <code>%SystemRoot%\Repair</code> folder contains a copy of the system's registry hives that were created after installation and the first successful startup of Windows. </p><p>Each registry data file has an associated file with a ".log" extension that acts as a <a href="/wiki/Transaction_log" title="Transaction log">transaction log</a> that is used to ensure that any interrupted updates can be completed upon next startup.<sup id="cite_ref-Norris_22-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Norris-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Internally, Registry files are split into 4 <a href="/wiki/Kilobyte" title="Kilobyte">kB</a> "bins" that contain collections of "cells".<sup id="cite_ref-Norris_22-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Norris-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Windows_9x">Windows 9x</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Windows 9x"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The registry files are stored in the <code>%WINDIR%</code> directory under the names <code>USER.DAT</code> and <code>SYSTEM.DAT</code> with the addition of <code>CLASSES.DAT</code> in Windows ME. Also, each user profile (if profiles are enabled) has its own <code>USER.DAT</code> file which is located in the user's profile directory in <code>%WINDIR%\Profiles\<Username>\</code>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Windows_3.11">Windows 3.11</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Windows 3.11"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The only registry file is called <code>REG.DAT</code> and it is stored in the <code>%WINDIR%</code> directory. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Windows_10_Mobile">Windows 10 Mobile</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Windows 10 Mobile"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>To access the registry files, the device needs to be set in a special mode using either:  </p> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.wpinternals.net/">WpInternals</a> (Put the device into flash mode.)</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/interop-tools-store/9nj3rs1t5n68">InterOp Tools</a> (Mount the MainOS Partition with MTP.)</li></ul> <p>If any of the above methods worked, the device's registry files can be found in the following location: </p> <pre> {Phone}\EFIESP\Windows\System32\config </pre> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Editing">Editing</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: Editing"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Registry_editors">Registry editors</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: Registry editors"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The registry contains important configuration information for the operating system, for installed applications as well as individual settings for each user and application. A careless change to the operating system configuration in the registry could cause irreversible damage, so it is usually only installer programs which perform changes to the registry database during installation/configuration and removal. If a user wants to edit the registry manually, Microsoft recommends that a backup of the registry be performed before the change.<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> When a program is removed from control panel, it may not be completely removed and, in case of errors or glitches caused by references to missing programs, the user might have to manually check inside directories such as program files. After this, the user might need to manually remove any reference to the uninstalled program in the registry. This is usually done by using RegEdit.exe.<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Editing the registry is sometimes necessary when working around Windows-specific issues e.g. problems when logging onto a domain can be resolved by editing the registry.<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Windows Registry can be edited manually using programs such as RegEdit.exe, although these tools do not expose some of the registry's metadata such as the last modified date. </p><p>The registry editor for the 3.1/95 series of operating systems is RegEdit.exe and for Windows NT it is RegEdt32.exe; the functionalities are merged in Windows XP. Optional and third-party tools similar to RegEdit.exe are available for many Windows CE versions. </p><p>Registry Editor allows users to perform the following functions: </p> <ul><li>Creating, manipulating, renaming<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and deleting registry keys, subkeys, values and value data</li> <li>Importing and exporting .<code>REG</code> files, exporting data in the binary hive format</li> <li>Loading, manipulating and unloading registry hive format files (Windows NT systems only)</li> <li>Setting permissions based on <a href="/wiki/Access_control_list" class="mw-redirect" title="Access control list">ACLs</a> (Windows NT systems only)</li> <li>Bookmarking user-selected registry keys as Favorites</li> <li>Finding particular strings in key names, value names and value data</li> <li>Remotely editing the registry on another networked computer</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id=".REG_files"><code>.REG</code> files</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: .REG files"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><code>.REG</code> files (also known as Registration entries) are text-based human-readable files for exporting and importing portions of the registry using an <a href="/wiki/INI_file" title="INI file">INI</a>-based syntax. On Windows 2000 and later, they contain the string <i>Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00</i> at the beginning, while on <a href="/wiki/Windows_9x" title="Windows 9x">Windows 9x</a> and NT 4.0 systems, they contain the string <i>REGEDIT4</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-Regfiles_27-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Regfiles-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Windows 2000 and later REG files are <a href="/wiki/Unicode" title="Unicode">Unicode</a>-based, while on <a href="/wiki/Windows_9x" title="Windows 9x">Windows 9x</a> and NT 4.0 systems, they are <a href="/wiki/Windows_code_page" title="Windows code page">ANSI</a>-based. <sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (December 2023)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> Windows 9x format <code>.REG</code> files are compatible with Windows 2000 and later.<sup id="cite_ref-Regfiles_27-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Regfiles-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The Registry Editor on Windows on these systems also supports exporting <code>.REG</code> files in Windows 9x/NT format.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (December 2023)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> Data is stored in <code>.REG</code> files using the following syntax:<sup id="cite_ref-Regfiles_27-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Regfiles-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-registry mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span></span><span class="err">[<Hive</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="err">name>\<Key</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="err">name>\<Subkey</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="err">name>]</span> <span class="na">"Value name"</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s"><Value type>:<Value data></span> </pre></div> <p>The Default Value of a key can be edited by using "@" instead of "Value Name": </p> <div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-registry mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span></span><span class="err">[<Hive</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="err">name>\<Key</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="err">name>\<Subkey</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="err">name>]</span> <span class="na">@</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s"><Value type>:<Value data></span> </pre></div> <p>String values do not require a <Value type> (see example), but <a href="/wiki/Escape_(Programming)" class="mw-redirect" title="Escape (Programming)">backslashes</a> ('\') need to be written as a double-backslash ('\\'), and quotes ('"') as backslash-quote ('\"'). </p><p>For example, to add the values "Value A", "Value B", "Value C", "Value D", "Value E", "Value F", "Value G", "Value H", "Value I", "Value J", "Value K", "Value L", and "Value M" to the HKLM\SOFTWARE\Foobar key: </p> <div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-registry mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span></span>Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 <span class="k">[</span><span class="nb">HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE</span><span class="k">\SOFTWARE\Foobar]</span> <span class="na">"Value A"</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">"<String value data with escape characters>"</span> <span class="na">"Value B"</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">hex:<Binary data (as comma-delimited list of hexadecimal values)></span> <span class="na">"Value C"</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">dword:<DWORD value integer></span> <span class="na">"Value D"</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">hex(0):<REG_NONE (as comma-delimited list of hexadecimal values)></span> <span class="na">"Value E"</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">hex(1):<REG_SZ (as comma-delimited list of hexadecimal values representing a UTF-16LE NUL-terminated string)></span> <span class="na">"Value F"</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">hex(2):<Expandable string value data (as comma-delimited list of hexadecimal values representing a UTF-16LE NUL-terminated string)></span> <span class="na">"Value G"</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">hex(3):<Binary data (as comma-delimited list of hexadecimal values)> ; equal to "Value B"</span> <span class="na">"Value H"</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">hex(4):<DWORD value (as comma-delimited list of 4 hexadecimal values, in little endian byte order)></span> <span class="na">"Value I"</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">hex(5):<DWORD value (as comma-delimited list of 4 hexadecimal values, in big endian byte order)></span> <span class="na">"Value J"</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">hex(7):<Multi-string value data (as comma-delimited list of hexadecimal values representing UTF-16LE NUL-terminated strings)></span> <span class="na">"Value K"</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">hex(8):<REG_RESOURCE_LIST (as comma-delimited list of hexadecimal values)></span> <span class="na">"Value L"</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">hex(a):<REG_RESOURCE_REQUIREMENTS_LIST (as comma-delimited list of hexadecimal values)></span> <span class="na">"Value M"</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">hex(b):<QWORD value (as comma-delimited list of 8 hexadecimal values, in little endian byte order)></span> </pre></div> <p>Data from <code>.REG</code> files can be added/merged with the registry by double-clicking these files or using the /s switch in the command line. <code>REG</code> files can also be used to remove registry data. </p><p>To remove a key (and all subkeys, values and data), the key name must be preceded by a minus sign ("-").<sup id="cite_ref-Regfiles_27-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Regfiles-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>For example, to remove the HKLM\SOFTWARE\Foobar key (and all subkeys, values and data), </p> <div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-registry mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span></span><span class="k">[</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="nb">HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE</span><span class="k">\SOFTWARE\Foobar]</span> </pre></div> <p>To remove a value (and its data), the values to be removed must have a minus sign ("-") after the equal sign ("=").<sup id="cite_ref-Regfiles_27-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Regfiles-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>For example, to remove only the "Value A" and "Value B" values (and their data) from the HKLM\SOFTWARE\Foobar key: </p> <div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-registry mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span></span><span class="k">[</span><span class="nb">HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE</span><span class="k">\SOFTWARE\Foobar]</span> <span class="na">"Value A"</span><span class="o">=-</span> <span class="na">"Value B"</span><span class="o">=-</span> </pre></div> <p>To remove only the Default value of the key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Foobar (and its data): </p> <div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-registry mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span></span><span class="k">[</span><span class="nb">HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE</span><span class="k">\SOFTWARE\Foobar]</span> <span class="na">@</span><span class="o">=-</span> </pre></div> <p>Lines beginning with a semicolon are considered comments: </p> <div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-registry mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span></span><span class="c1">; This is a comment. This can be placed in any part of a .reg file</span> <span class="k">[</span><span class="nb">HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE</span><span class="k">\SOFTWARE\Foobar]</span> <span class="na">"Value"</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">"Example string"</span> </pre></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Group_policies">Group policies</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: Group policies"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Group_Policy" title="Group Policy">Group Policy</a></div> <p>Windows <a href="/wiki/Group_Policy" title="Group Policy">group policies</a> can change registry keys for a number of machines or individual users based on policies. When a policy first takes effect for a machine or for an individual user of a machine, the registry settings specified as part of the policy are applied to the machine or user settings. </p><p>Windows will also look for updated policies and apply them periodically, typically every 90 minutes.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Through its <i>scope</i> a policy defines to which machines and users the policy is to be applied. Whether a machine or user is within the scope of a policy or not is defined by a set of rules which can filter on the location of the machine or user account in organizational directory, specific users or machine accounts or security groups. More advanced rules can be set up using <a href="/wiki/Windows_Management_Instrumentation" title="Windows Management Instrumentation">Windows Management Instrumentation</a> expressions. Such rules can filter on properties such as computer vendor name, CPU architecture, installed software, or networks connected to. </p><p>For instance, the administrator can create a policy with one set of registry settings for machines in the accounting department and policy with another (lock-down) set of registry settings for kiosk terminals in the visitors area. When a machine is moved from one scope to another (e.g., changing its name or moving it to another organizational unit), the correct policy is automatically applied. When a policy is changed it is automatically re-applied to all machines currently in its scope. </p><p>The policy is edited through a number of administrative templates which provides a user interface for picking and changing settings. The set of administrative templates is extensible and software packages which support such remote administration can register their own templates. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Command_line_editing">Command line editing</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=21" title="Edit section: Command line editing"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1257001546"><table class="infobox vevent"><caption class="infobox-title summary">reg</caption><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="/wiki/Programmer" title="Programmer">Developer(s)</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Microsoft" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="/wiki/Operating_system" title="Operating system">Operating system</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Windows" title="Microsoft Windows">Microsoft Windows</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="/wiki/Software_categories#Categorization_approaches" title="Software categories">Type</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Command_(computing)" title="Command (computing)">Command</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="/wiki/Software_license" title="Software license">License</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Proprietary_software" title="Proprietary software">Proprietary</a> <a href="/wiki/Commercial_software" title="Commercial software">commercial software</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;">Website</th><td class="infobox-data"><span class="url"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/reg">docs<wbr />.microsoft<wbr />.com<wbr />/en-us<wbr />/windows-server<wbr />/administration<wbr />/windows-commands<wbr />/reg</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1257001546"><table class="infobox vevent"><caption class="infobox-title summary">regini</caption><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="/wiki/Programmer" title="Programmer">Developer(s)</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Microsoft" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="/wiki/Operating_system" title="Operating system">Operating system</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Windows" title="Microsoft Windows">Microsoft Windows</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="/wiki/Software_categories#Categorization_approaches" title="Software categories">Type</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Command_(computing)" title="Command (computing)">Command</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="/wiki/Software_license" title="Software license">License</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Proprietary_software" title="Proprietary software">Proprietary</a> <a href="/wiki/Commercial_software" title="Commercial software">commercial software</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;">Website</th><td class="infobox-data"><span class="url"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/regini">docs<wbr />.microsoft<wbr />.com<wbr />/en-us<wbr />/windows-server<wbr />/administration<wbr />/windows-commands<wbr />/regini</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The registry can be manipulated in a number of ways from the <a href="/wiki/Command_line_interface" class="mw-redirect" title="Command line interface">command line</a>. The <code>Reg.exe</code> and <code>RegIni.exe</code> utility tools are included in Windows XP and later versions of Windows. Alternative locations for legacy versions of Windows include the Resource Kit CDs or the original Installation CD of Windows. </p><p>Also, a <code>.REG</code> file can be imported from the command line with the following command: </p> <pre>RegEdit.exe /s <i>file</i> </pre> <p>The /s means the file will be <i>silent merged</i> to the registry. If the <code>/s</code> parameter is omitted the user will be asked to confirm the operation. In Windows 98, Windows 95 and at least some configurations of Windows XP the <code>/s</code> switch also causes <code>RegEdit.exe</code> to ignore the setting in the registry that allows administrators to disable it. When using the <code>/s</code> switch <code>RegEdit.exe</code> does not return an appropriate return code if the operation fails, unlike <code>Reg.exe</code> which does. </p> <pre>RegEdit.exe /e <i>file</i> </pre> <p>exports the whole registry in V5 format to a UNICODE <code>.REG</code> file, while any of </p> <pre>RegEdit.exe /e <i>file</i> HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT[\<key>] RegEdit.exe /e <i>file</i> HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG[\<key>] RegEdit.exe /e <i>file</i> HKEY_CURRENT_USER[\<key>] RegEdit.exe /e <i>file</i> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE[\<key>] RegEdit.exe /e <i>file</i> HKEY_USERS[\<key>] </pre> <p>export the specified (sub)key (which has to be enclosed in quotes if it contains spaces) only. </p> <pre>RegEdit.exe /a <i>file</i> </pre> <p>exports the whole registry in V4 format to an ANSI <code>.REG</code> file. </p> <pre>RegEdit.exe /a <i>file</i> <i><key></i> </pre> <p>exports the specified (sub)key (which has to be enclosed in quotes if it contains spaces) only. </p><p>It is also possible to use <code>Reg.exe</code>. Here is a sample to display the value of the registry value Version: </p> <div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span></span>Reg.exe QUERY HKLM\Software\Microsoft\ResKit /v Version </pre></div> <p>Other command line options include a <a href="/wiki/VBScript" title="VBScript">VBScript</a> or <a href="/wiki/JScript" title="JScript">JScript</a> together with <a href="/wiki/Windows_Script_Host" title="Windows Script Host">CScript</a>, <a href="/wiki/Windows_Management_Instrumentation" title="Windows Management Instrumentation">WMI</a> or <code>WMIC.exe</code> and <a href="/wiki/Windows_PowerShell" class="mw-redirect" title="Windows PowerShell">Windows PowerShell</a>. </p><p>Registry permissions can be manipulated through the command line using <code>RegIni.exe</code> and the <code><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e8ba3e56-d8fe-4a91-93cf-ed6985e3927b&DisplayLang=en">SubInACL.exe</a></code> tool. For example, the permissions on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE key can be displayed using: </p> <div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span></span>SubInACL.exe /keyreg HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE /display </pre></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="PowerShell_commands_and_scripts">PowerShell commands and scripts</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=22" title="Edit section: PowerShell commands and scripts"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:PowerShell_registry_provider.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/PowerShell_registry_provider.png/220px-PowerShell_registry_provider.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="137" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/PowerShell_registry_provider.png/330px-PowerShell_registry_provider.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/PowerShell_registry_provider.png/440px-PowerShell_registry_provider.png 2x" data-file-width="961" data-file-height="600" /></a><figcaption>Using PowerShell to navigate the registry</figcaption></figure> <p><a href="/wiki/Windows_PowerShell" class="mw-redirect" title="Windows PowerShell">Windows PowerShell</a> comes with a registry provider which presents the registry as a location type similar to the file system. The same commands used to manipulate files and directories in the file system can be used to manipulate keys and values of the registry.<sup id="cite_ref-Payette-Siddaway-2018_29-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Payette-Siddaway-2018-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Also like the file system, PowerShell uses the concept of a <i>current location</i> which defines the context on which commands by default operate. The <code>Get-ChildItem</code> (also available through the aliases <code>ls</code>, <code>dir</code> or <code>gci</code>) retrieves the child keys of the current location. By using the <code>Set-Location</code> (or the alias <code>cd</code>) command the user can change the current location to another key of the registry.<sup id="cite_ref-Payette-Siddaway-2018_29-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Payette-Siddaway-2018-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Commands which rename items, remove items, create new items or set content of items or properties can be used to rename keys, remove keys or entire sub-trees or change values. </p><p>Through PowerShell scripts files, an administrator can prepare scripts which, when executed, make changes to the registry. Such scripts can be distributed to administrators who can execute them on individual machines. The PowerShell Registry provider supports transactions, i.e. multiple changes to the registry can be bundled into a single atomic transaction. An atomic transaction ensures that either all of the changes are committed to the database, or if the script fails, none of the changes are committed to the database.<sup id="cite_ref-Payette-Siddaway-2018_29-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Payette-Siddaway-2018-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Programs_or_scripts">Programs or scripts</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=23" title="Edit section: Programs or scripts"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The registry can be edited through the APIs of the Advanced Windows 32 Base API Library (advapi32.dll).<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> List of registry API functions: </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1184024115">.mw-parser-output .div-col{margin-top:0.3em;column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .div-col-small{font-size:90%}.mw-parser-output .div-col-rules{column-rule:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .div-col dl,.mw-parser-output .div-col ol,.mw-parser-output .div-col ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .div-col li,.mw-parser-output .div-col dd{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}</style><div class="div-col" style="column-width: 15em;"> <ul><li><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r886049734">.mw-parser-output .monospaced{font-family:monospace,monospace}</style><span class="monospaced">RegCloseKey</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegConnectRegistry</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegCreateKey</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegCreateKeyEx</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegDeleteKey</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegDeleteValue</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegEnumKey</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegEnumKeyEx</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegEnumValue</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegFlushKey</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegGetKeySecurity</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegLoadKey</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegNotifyChangeKeyValue</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegOpenKey</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegOpenKeyEx</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegQueryInfoKey</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegQueryMultipleValues</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegQueryValue</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegQueryValueEx</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegReplaceKey</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegRestoreKey</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegSaveKey</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegSetKeySecurity</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegSetValue</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegSetValueEx</span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886049734"><span class="monospaced">RegUnLoadKey</span></li></ul> </div> <p>Many <a href="/wiki/Programming_language" title="Programming language">programming languages</a> offer built-in <a href="/wiki/Runtime_library" title="Runtime library">runtime library</a> functions or <a href="/wiki/Class_(computer_science)" class="mw-redirect" title="Class (computer science)">classes</a> that wrap the underlying Windows APIs and thereby enable programs to store settings in the registry (e.g. <code>Microsoft.Win32.Registry</code> in <a href="/wiki/Visual_Basic_.NET" class="mw-redirect" title="Visual Basic .NET">VB.NET</a> and <a href="/wiki/C_Sharp_(programming_language)" title="C Sharp (programming language)">C#</a>, or <code>TRegistry</code> in <a href="/wiki/Delphi_(programming_language)" class="mw-redirect" title="Delphi (programming language)">Delphi</a> and <a href="/wiki/Free_Pascal" title="Free Pascal">Free Pascal</a>). <a href="/wiki/Component_Object_Model" title="Component Object Model">COM</a>-enabled applications like <a href="/wiki/Visual_Basic_6" class="mw-redirect" title="Visual Basic 6">Visual Basic 6</a> can use the <a href="/wiki/Windows_Scripting_Host" class="mw-redirect" title="Windows Scripting Host">WSH</a> <code>WScript.Shell</code> object. Another way is to use the Windows Resource Kit Tool, <code>Reg.exe</code> by executing it from code,<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> although this is considered poor programming practice. </p><p>Similarly, <a href="/wiki/Scripting_language" title="Scripting language">scripting languages</a> such as <a href="/wiki/Perl" title="Perl">Perl</a> (with <code> Win32::TieRegistry</code>), <a href="/wiki/Python_(programming_language)" title="Python (programming language)">Python</a> (with winreg), <a href="/wiki/Tcl" title="Tcl">TCL</a> (which comes bundled with the registry package),<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Windows_Powershell" class="mw-redirect" title="Windows Powershell">Windows Powershell</a> and <a href="/wiki/Windows_Scripting_Host" class="mw-redirect" title="Windows Scripting Host">Windows Scripting Host</a> also enable registry editing from scripts. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Offline_editing">Offline editing</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=24" title="Edit section: Offline editing"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The offreg.dll<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>33<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> available from the <a href="/wiki/Windows_Driver_Kit" title="Windows Driver Kit">Windows Driver Kit</a> offers a set of APIs for the creation and manipulation of currently not loaded registry hives similar to those provided by advapi32.dll. </p><p>It is also possible to edit the registry (hives) of an offline system from <a href="/wiki/Windows_PE" class="mw-redirect" title="Windows PE">Windows PE</a> or <a href="/wiki/Linux" title="Linux">Linux</a> (in the latter case using <a href="/wiki/Open_source" title="Open source">open source</a> tools). </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="COM_self-registration">COM self-registration</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=25" title="Edit section: COM self-registration"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Prior to the introduction of registration-free <a href="/wiki/Component_Object_Model" title="Component Object Model">COM</a>, developers were encouraged to add initialization code to in-process and out-of-process binaries to perform the registry configuration required for that object to work. For in-process binaries such as .DLL and .OCX files, the modules typically exported a function called DllInstall()<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-35"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> that could be called by installation programs or invoked manually with utilities like Regsvr32.exe;<sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>35<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> out-of-process binaries typically support the commandline arguments /Regserver and /Unregserver that created or deleted the required registry settings.<sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-37"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>36<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> COM applications that break because of <a href="/wiki/DLL_Hell" class="mw-redirect" title="DLL Hell">DLL Hell</a> issues can commonly be repaired with RegSvr32.exe or the /RegServer switch without having to re-invoke installation programs.<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-38"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>37<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Advanced_functionality">Advanced functionality</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=26" title="Edit section: Advanced functionality"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Windows exposes APIs that allows user-mode applications to register to receive a notification event if a particular registry key is changed.<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-39"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>38<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> APIs are also available to allow kernel-mode applications to filter and modify registry calls made by other applications.<sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-40"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>39<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Windows also supports remote access to the registry of another computer via the <code>RegConnectRegistry</code> function<sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-41"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>40<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> if the Remote Registry service is running, correctly configured and its network traffic is not firewalled.<sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-42"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>41<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Security">Security</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=27" title="Edit section: Security"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Security_descriptor" title="Security descriptor">Security descriptor</a></div> <p>Each key in the registry of Windows NT versions can have an associated <a href="/wiki/Security_descriptor" title="Security descriptor">security descriptor</a>. The security descriptor contains an <a href="/wiki/Access_control_list" class="mw-redirect" title="Access control list">access control list (ACL)</a> that describes which user groups or individual users are granted or denied access permissions. The set of registry permissions include 10 rights/permissions which can be explicitly allowed or denied to a user or a group of users. </p> <table class="wikitable"> <caption>Registry permissions </caption> <tbody><tr> <th>Permission </th> <th>Description </th></tr> <tr> <td>Query Value </td> <td>The right to read the registry key value. </td></tr> <tr> <td>Set Value </td> <td>The right to write a new value </td></tr> <tr> <td>Create Subkey </td> <td>The right to create subkeys. </td></tr> <tr> <td>Enumerate Subkeys </td> <td>Allow the enumeration of subkeys. </td></tr> <tr> <td>Notify </td> <td>The right to request change notifications for registry keys or subkeys. </td></tr> <tr> <td>Create Link </td> <td>Reserved by the operating system. </td></tr> <tr> <td>Delete </td> <td>The right to delete a key. </td></tr> <tr> <td>Write DACL </td> <td>The right to modify permissions of the container's DACL. </td></tr> <tr> <td>Write Owner </td> <td>The right to modify the container's owner. </td></tr> <tr> <td>Read Control </td> <td>The right to read the DACL. </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>As with other securable objects in the operating system, individual access control entries (ACE) on the security descriptor can be explicit or inherited from a parent object.<sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-43"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>42<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p><a href="/wiki/Windows_Resource_Protection" title="Windows Resource Protection">Windows Resource Protection</a> is a feature of <a href="/wiki/Windows_Vista" title="Windows Vista">Windows Vista</a> and later versions of Windows that uses security to deny Administrators and the system WRITE access to some sensitive keys to protect the integrity of the system from malware and accidental modification.<sup id="cite_ref-44" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-44"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>43<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Special ACEs on the security descriptor can also implement <a href="/wiki/Mandatory_integrity_control" class="mw-redirect" title="Mandatory integrity control">mandatory integrity control</a> for the registry key and subkeys. A process running at a lower integrity level cannot write, change or delete a registry key/value, even if the account of the process has otherwise been granted access through the ACL. For instance, Internet Explorer running in Protected Mode can <i>read</i> medium and low integrity registry keys/values of the currently logged on user, but it can only modify low integrity keys.<sup id="cite_ref-45" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-45"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>44<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Outside security, registry keys cannot be deleted or edited due to other causes. Registry keys containing NUL characters cannot be deleted with standard registry editors and require a special utility for deletion, such as <a href="/w/index.php?title=RegDelNull&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="RegDelNull (page does not exist)">RegDelNull</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-46" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-46"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>45<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-47" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-47"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>46<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Backups_and_recovery">Backups and recovery</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=28" title="Edit section: Backups and recovery"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Different editions of Windows have supported a number of different methods to back up and restore the registry over the years, some of which are now deprecated: </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/System_Restore" title="System Restore">System Restore</a> can back up the registry and restore it as long as Windows is bootable, or from the <a href="/wiki/Windows_Recovery_Environment" class="mw-redirect" title="Windows Recovery Environment">Windows Recovery Environment</a> (starting with Windows Vista).</li> <li><a href="/wiki/NTBackup" title="NTBackup">NTBackup</a> can back up the registry as part of the <i>System State</i> and restore it. <a href="/wiki/Automated_System_Recovery" class="mw-redirect" title="Automated System Recovery">Automated System Recovery</a> in Windows XP can also restore the registry.</li> <li>On Windows NT, the <i>Last Known Good Configuration</i> option in startup menu relinks the <code>HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet</code> key, which stores hardware and device driver information.</li> <li>Windows 98 and Windows ME include command line (Scanreg.exe) and GUI (Scanregw.exe) registry checker tools to check and fix the integrity of the registry, create up to five automatic regular backups by default and restore them manually or whenever corruption is detected.<sup id="cite_ref-48" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-48"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>47<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The registry checker tool backs up the registry, by default, to <code>%Windir%\Sysbckup</code> Scanreg.exe can also run from <a href="/wiki/MS-DOS" title="MS-DOS">MS-DOS</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-49" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-49"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>48<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>The Windows 95 CD-ROM included an Emergency Recovery Utility (ERU.exe) and a Configuration Backup Tool (Cfgback.exe) to back up and restore the registry. Additionally Windows 95 backs up the registry to the files system.da0 and user.da0 on every successful boot.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_NT_4.0" title="Windows NT 4.0">Windows NT 4.0</a> included <code>RDISK.EXE</code>, a utility to back up and restore the entire registry.<sup id="cite_ref-50" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-50"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>49<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Resource_Kit" class="mw-redirect" title="Windows Resource Kit">Windows 2000 Resource Kit</a> contained an unsupported pair of utilities called Regback.exe and RegRest.exe for backup and recovery of the registry.<sup id="cite_ref-51" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-51"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>50<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>Periodic automatic backups of the registry are now disabled by default on <a href="/wiki/Windows_10" title="Windows 10">Windows 10</a> May 2019 Update (version 1903). Microsoft recommends System Restore be used instead.<sup id="cite_ref-52" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-52"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>51<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Policy">Policy</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=29" title="Edit section: Policy"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Group_policy">Group policy</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=30" title="Edit section: Group policy"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Windows 2000 and later versions of Windows use <a href="/wiki/Group_Policy" title="Group Policy">Group Policy</a> to enforce registry settings through a registry-specific client extension in the Group Policy processing engine.<sup id="cite_ref-53" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-53"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>52<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Policy may be applied locally to a single computer using <code>gpedit.msc</code> or to multiple users and computers in a <a href="/wiki/Windows_Server_domain" class="mw-redirect" title="Windows Server domain">domain</a> using <code>gpmc.msc</code>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Legacy_systems">Legacy systems</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=31" title="Edit section: Legacy systems"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>With Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME and Windows NT 4.0, administrators can use a special file to be merged into the registry, called a policy file (<code>POLICY.POL</code>). The policy file allows administrators to prevent non-administrator users from changing registry settings like, for instance, the security level of <a href="/wiki/Internet_Explorer" title="Internet Explorer">Internet Explorer</a> and the desktop background wallpaper. The policy file is primarily used in a business with a large number of computers where the business needs to be protected from rogue or careless users. </p><p>The default extension for the policy file is <code>.POL</code>. The policy file filters the settings it enforces by user and by group (a "group" is a defined set of users). To do that the policy file merges into the registry, preventing users from circumventing it by simply changing back the settings. The policy file is usually distributed through a LAN, but can be placed on the local computer. </p><p>The policy file is created by a free tool by Microsoft that goes by the filename <code>poledit.exe</code> for Windows 95/Windows 98 and with a computer management module for Windows NT. The editor requires administrative permissions to be run on systems that uses permissions. The editor can also directly change the current registry settings of the local computer and if the remote registry service is installed and started on another computer it can also change the registry on that computer. The policy editor loads the settings it can change from <code>.ADM</code> files, of which one is included, that contains the settings the Windows shell provides. The <code>.ADM</code> file is plain text and supports easy localisation by allowing all the strings to be stored in one place. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Virtualization">Virtualization</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=32" title="Edit section: Virtualization"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="INI_file_virtualization">INI file virtualization</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=33" title="Edit section: INI file virtualization"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Windows NT kernels support redirection of INI file-related <a href="/wiki/Application_programming_interface" class="mw-redirect" title="Application programming interface">APIs</a> into a virtual file in a registry location such as HKEY_CURRENT_USER using a feature called "InifileMapping".<sup id="cite_ref-54" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-54"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>53<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This functionality was introduced to allow legacy applications written for <a href="/wiki/16-bit" class="mw-redirect" title="16-bit">16-bit</a> versions of Windows to be able to run under Windows NT platforms on which the System folder is no longer considered an appropriate location for user-specific data or configuration. Non-compliant 32-bit applications can also be redirected in this manner, even though the feature was originally intended for 16-bit applications. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Registry_virtualization">Registry virtualization</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=34" title="Edit section: Registry virtualization"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><a href="/wiki/Windows_Vista" title="Windows Vista">Windows Vista</a> introduced limited registry virtualization, whereby poorly written applications that do not respect the <a href="/wiki/Principle_of_least_privilege" title="Principle of least privilege">principle of least privilege</a> and instead try to write user data to a read-only system location (such as the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive), are silently redirected to a more appropriate location, without changing the application itself. </p><p>Similarly, <a href="/wiki/Application_virtualization" title="Application virtualization">application virtualization</a> redirects all of an application's invalid registry operations to a location such as a file. Used together with file virtualization, this allows applications to run on a machine without being installed on it. </p><p><a href="/wiki/Mandatory_Integrity_Control" title="Mandatory Integrity Control">Low integrity</a> processes may also use registry virtualization. For example, Internet Explorer 7 or 8 running in "Protected Mode" on Windows Vista and above will automatically redirect registry writes by ActiveX controls to a sandboxed location in order to frustrate some classes of <a href="/wiki/Exploit_(computer_security)" title="Exploit (computer security)">security exploits</a>. </p><p>The Application Compatibility Toolkit<sup id="cite_ref-55" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-55"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>54<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> provides <a href="/wiki/Shim_(computing)" title="Shim (computing)">shims</a> that can transparently redirect HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT Registry operations to HKEY_CURRENT_USER to address "<a href="/wiki/Principle_of_least_privilege" title="Principle of least privilege">LUA</a>" bugs that cause applications not to work for users with insufficient rights. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Disadvantages">Disadvantages</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=35" title="Edit section: Disadvantages"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Critics labeled the registry in Windows 95 a <a href="/wiki/Single_point_of_failure" title="Single point of failure">single point of failure</a>, because re-installation of the operating system was required if the registry became corrupt. However, Windows NT uses transaction logs to protect against corruption during updates. Current versions of Windows use two levels of log files to ensure integrity even in the case of power failure or similar catastrophic events during database updates.<sup id="cite_ref-windowsinternals6_56-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-windowsinternals6-56"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>55<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Even in the case of a non-recoverable error, Windows can repair or re-initialize damaged registry entries during system boot.<sup id="cite_ref-windowsinternals6_56-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-windowsinternals6-56"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>55<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Equivalents_and_alternatives">Equivalents and alternatives</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=36" title="Edit section: Equivalents and alternatives"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .ambox{display:none!important}}</style><table class="box-More_citations_needed_section plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Refimprove" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="39" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/75px-Question_book-new.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/100px-Question_book-new.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="399" /></a></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>needs additional citations for <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">verification</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help <a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Windows_Registry" title="Special:EditPage/Windows Registry">improve this article</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a> in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">November 2010</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>In Windows, use of the registry for storing program data is a matter of developer's discretion. Microsoft provides programming interfaces for storing data in <a href="/wiki/XML" title="XML">XML</a> files (via <a href="/wiki/MSXML" title="MSXML">MSXML</a>) or database files (via <a href="/wiki/SQL_Server_Compact" title="SQL Server Compact">SQL Server Compact</a>) which developers can use instead. Developers are also free to use non-Microsoft alternatives or develop their own proprietary data stores. </p><p>In contrast to Windows Registry's binary-based database model, some other operating systems use separate <a href="/wiki/Plain_text" title="Plain text">plain-text</a> files for <a href="/wiki/Daemon_(computing)" title="Daemon (computing)">daemon</a> and application configuration, but group these configurations together for ease of management. </p> <ul><li>In <a href="/wiki/Unix-like" title="Unix-like">Unix-like</a> operating systems (including <a href="/wiki/Linux" title="Linux">Linux</a>) that follow the <a href="/wiki/Filesystem_Hierarchy_Standard" title="Filesystem Hierarchy Standard">Filesystem Hierarchy Standard</a>, system-wide configuration files (information similar to what would appear in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE on Windows) are traditionally stored in files in <code>/etc/</code> and its subdirectories, or sometimes in <code>/usr/local/etc/</code>. Per-user information (information that would be roughly equivalent to that in HKEY_CURRENT_USER) is stored in <a href="/wiki/Hidden_file_and_hidden_directory" title="Hidden file and hidden directory">hidden directories and files</a> (that start with a period/<a href="/wiki/Full_stop" title="Full stop">full stop</a>) within the user's <a href="/wiki/Home_directory" title="Home directory">home directory</a>. However <a href="/wiki/Freedesktop.org" title="Freedesktop.org">XDG</a>-compliant applications should refer to the environment variables defined in the Base Directory specification.<sup id="cite_ref-57" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-57"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>56<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>In <a href="/wiki/Mac_OS_X" class="mw-redirect" title="Mac OS X">macOS</a>, system-wide configuration files are typically stored in the <code>/Library/</code> folder, whereas per-user configuration files are stored in the corresponding <code>~/Library/</code> folder in the user's home directory, and configuration files set by the system are in <code>/System/Library/</code>. Within these respective directories, an application typically stores a <a href="/wiki/Property_list" title="Property list">property list</a> file in the <code>Preferences/</code> sub-directory.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/RISC_OS" title="RISC OS">RISC OS</a> (not to be confused with <i><a href="/wiki/MIPS_RISC/os" title="MIPS RISC/os">MIPS RISC/os</a></i>) uses directories for configuration data, which allows applications to be copied into <a href="/wiki/Application_directory" title="Application directory">application directories</a>, as opposed to the separate installation process that typifies Windows applications; this approach is also used on the <a href="/wiki/ROX_Desktop" title="ROX Desktop">ROX Desktop</a> for Linux.<sup id="cite_ref-58" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-58"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>57<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This directory-based configuration also makes it possible to use different versions of the same application, since the configuration is done "on the fly".<sup id="cite_ref-riscos.com_list_59-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-riscos.com_list-59"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>58<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> If one wishes to remove the application, it is possible to simply delete the folder belonging to the application.<sup id="cite_ref-60" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-60"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>59<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-61" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-61"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>60<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This will often not remove configuration settings which are stored independently from the application, usually within the computer's <a href="/wiki/Application_directory#The_RISC_OS_!Boot_system_directory" title="Application directory">!Boot structure</a>, in !Boot.Choices or potentially anywhere on a network fileserver. It is possible to copy installed programs between computers running RISC OS by copying the application directories belonging to the programs, however some programs may require re-installing, e.g. when shared files are placed outside an application directory.<sup id="cite_ref-riscos.com_list_59-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-riscos.com_list-59"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>58<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/IBM_AIX" title="IBM AIX">IBM AIX</a> (a Unix variant) uses a registry component called <a href="/wiki/Object_Data_Manager" class="mw-redirect" title="Object Data Manager">Object Data Manager</a> (ODM). The ODM is used to store information about system and device configuration. An extensive set of tools and utilities provides users with means of extending, checking, correcting the ODM database. The ODM stores its information in several files, default location is <code>/etc/objrepos</code>.</li> <li>The <a href="/wiki/GNOME" title="GNOME">GNOME</a> desktop environment uses a registry-like interface called <a href="/wiki/Dconf" title="Dconf">dconf</a> for storing configuration settings for the desktop and applications.</li> <li>The <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.libelektra.org/">Elektra Initiative</a> provides alternative back-ends for various different text configuration files.</li> <li>While not an operating system, the <a href="/wiki/Wine_(software)" title="Wine (software)">Wine</a> <a href="/wiki/Compatibility_layer" title="Compatibility layer">compatibility layer</a>, which allows Windows software to run on a Unix-like system, also employs a Windows-like registry as text files in the WINEPREFIX folder: system.reg (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE), user.reg (HKEY_CURRENT_USER) and userdef.reg.<sup id="cite_ref-62" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-62"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>61<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=37" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Registry_cleaner" title="Registry cleaner">Registry cleaner</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Application_virtualization" title="Application virtualization">Application virtualization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Logparser" title="Logparser">LogParser</a> – <a href="/wiki/SQL" title="SQL">SQL</a>-like querying of various types of log files</li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_Shell_Icon_Overlay_Identifiers" class="mw-redirect" title="List of Shell Icon Overlay Identifiers">List of Shell Icon Overlay Identifiers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/CryptoLocker" title="CryptoLocker">Ransomware attack that uses Registry</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=38" title="Edit section: Notes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-lower-alpha"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">When applications fail to execute because they request more privileges than they require (and are denied those privileges), this is known as a limited user application (LUA) bug.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Footnotes">Footnotes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=39" title="Edit section: Footnotes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239543626"><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width" style="column-width: 30em;"> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-Reghist-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Reghist_1-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFEsposito2000" class="citation web cs1">Esposito, Dino (November 2000). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030415200916/http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/1100/Registry/">"Windows 2000 Registry: Latest Features and APIs Provide the Power to Customize and Extend Your Apps"</a>. <i>MSDN Magazine</i>. Microsoft. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/1100/Registry/">the original</a> on April 15, 2003<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">July 19,</span> 2007</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=MSDN+Magazine&rft.atitle=Windows+2000+Registry%3A+Latest+Features+and+APIs+Provide+the+Power+to+Customize+and+Extend+Your+Apps&rft.date=2000-11&rft.aulast=Esposito&rft.aufirst=Dino&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fmsdn.microsoft.com%2Fmsdnmag%2Fissues%2F1100%2FRegistry%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-SystemRegistry-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-SystemRegistry_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-SystemRegistry_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-SystemRegistry_2-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms970651.aspx">"The System Registry"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=The+System+Registry&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fmsdn.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flibrary%2Fms970651.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080207122429/http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/win95/rk31_arc.mspx?mfr=true">"Windows 95 Architecture Components"</a>. <i>www.microsoft.com</i>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/win95/rk31_arc.mspx?mfr=true">the original</a> on February 7, 2008<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">April 29,</span> 2008</span>. <q>The following table shows other difficulties or limitations caused by using .INI files that are overcome by using the Registry.</q></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.microsoft.com&rft.atitle=Windows+95+Architecture+Components&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.microsoft.com%2Ftechnet%2Farchive%2Fwin95%2Frk31_arc.mspx%3Fmfr%3Dtrue&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEHipson20025,_41–43-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHipson20025,_41–43_4-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFHipson2002">Hipson 2002</a>, p. 5, 41–43.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFRichterNasarre2008" class="citation book cs1">Richter, Jeffrey; Nasarre, Christophe (2008). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=r5tCAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT260"><i>Windows Via C/C++</i></a> (Fifth ed.). <a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Press" title="Microsoft Press">Microsoft Press</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780735642461" title="Special:BookSources/9780735642461"><bdi>9780735642461</bdi></a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">August 28,</span> 2021</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Windows+Via+C%2FC%2B%2B&rft.edition=Fifth&rft.pub=Microsoft+Press&rft.date=2008&rft.isbn=9780735642461&rft.aulast=Richter&rft.aufirst=Jeffrey&rft.au=Nasarre%2C+Christophe&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3Dr5tCAwAAQBAJ%26pg%3DPT260&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Raymond_Chen" class="mw-redirect" title="Raymond Chen">Raymond Chen</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20080118-00/?p=23773">"Why do registry keys have a default value?"</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEHipson2002207,_513–514-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHipson2002207,_513–514_7-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFHipson2002">Hipson 2002</a>, pp. 207, 513–514.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEHipson2002520–521-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHipson2002520–521_8-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFHipson2002">Hipson 2002</a>, pp. 520–521.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEHipson20027-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHipson20027_9-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFHipson2002">Hipson 2002</a>, p. 7.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=209e3d65-f0be-4eef-8602-73bb9bc29d54">"Designed for Windows XP Application Specification"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Microsoft" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a>. August 20, 2002<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">April 8,</span> 2009</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Designed+for+Windows+XP+Application+Specification&rft.pub=Microsoft&rft.date=2002-08-20&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.microsoft.com%2Fdownloads%2Fdetails.aspx%3Fdisplaylang%3Den%26FamilyID%3D209e3d65-f0be-4eef-8602-73bb9bc29d54&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc959046.aspx">"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE"</a>. Gautam. 2009<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">April 8,</span> 2009</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE&rft.pub=Gautam&rft.date=2009&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Ftechnet.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flibrary%2Fcc959046.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384253.aspx">"Registry Keys Affected by WOW64 (Windows)"</a>. Msdn.microsoft.com<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">April 10,</span> 2014</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Registry+Keys+Affected+by+WOW64+%28Windows%29&rft.pub=Msdn.microsoft.com&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fmsdn.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flibrary%2Faa384253.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986">"Description of the Microsoft Windows registry"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. 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Retrieved <span class="nowrap">April 8,</span> 2009</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=HKEY_CURRENT_USER&rft.pub=Microsoft&rft.date=2009&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Ftechnet.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flibrary%2Fcc976337.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/250568">"Description of the HKEY_DYN_DATA Registry Key in Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 98 SE"</a>. <i>support.microsoft.com</i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=support.microsoft.com&rft.atitle=Description+of+the+HKEY_DYN_DATA+Registry+Key+in+Windows+95%2C+Windows+98%2C+and+Windows+98+SE&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fsupport.microsoft.com%2Fkb%2F250568&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080509003336/http://docs.rinet.ru/Registratura/htm/apf.htm">"A Closer Look at HKEY_DYN_DATA"</a>. <i>rinet.ru</i>. 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Retrieved <span class="nowrap">July 19,</span> 2007</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Registry+hives&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fmsdn2.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flibrary%2Fms724877.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFChen2011" class="citation web cs1">Chen, Raymond (August 8, 2011). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20030808-00/?p=42943">"Why is a registry file called a "hive"?"</a>. The Old New Thing<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">July 29,</span> 2011</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Why+is+a+registry+file+called+a+%22hive%22%3F&rft.pub=The+Old+New+Thing&rft.date=2011-08-08&rft.aulast=Chen&rft.aufirst=Raymond&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fdevblogs.microsoft.com%2Foldnewthing%2F20030808-00%2F%3Fp%3D42943&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc722562.aspx">"Overview of the Windows NT Registry"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. 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Retrieved <span class="nowrap">December 28,</span> 2007</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Inside+the+Registry&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Ftechnet.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flibrary%2Fcc750583.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Norris-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Norris_22-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Norris_22-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFNorris2009" class="citation web cs1">Norris, Peter (February 2009). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090529202753/http://amnesia.gtisc.gatech.edu/~moyix/suzibandit.ltd.uk/MSc/Registry%20Structure%20-%20Main%20V4.pdf">"The Internal Structure of the Windows Registry"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. Cranfield University. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://amnesia.gtisc.gatech.edu/~moyix/suzibandit.ltd.uk/MSc/">the original</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span> on May 29, 2009.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=The+Internal+Structure+of+the+Windows+Registry&rft.pub=Cranfield+University&rft.date=2009-02&rft.aulast=Norris&rft.aufirst=Peter&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Famnesia.gtisc.gatech.edu%2F~moyix%2Fsuzibandit.ltd.uk%2FMSc%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/171325">"Incorrect Icons Displayed for .ico Files"</a>. November 15, 2009<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 31,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Incorrect+Icons+Displayed+for+.ico+Files&rft.date=2009-11-15&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fsupport.microsoft.com%2Fkb%2F171325&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.askvg.com/how-to-completely-uninstall-remove-a-software-program-in-windows-without-using-3rd-party-software/">"How to Completely Uninstall / Remove a Software Program in Windows without using 3rd Party Software? - AskVG"</a>. <i>www.askvg.com</i>. August 26, 2011.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.askvg.com&rft.atitle=How+to+Completely+Uninstall+%2F+Remove+a+Software+Program+in+Windows+without+using+3rd+Party+Software%3F+-+AskVG&rft.date=2011-08-26&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.askvg.com%2Fhow-to-completely-uninstall-remove-a-software-program-in-windows-without-using-3rd-party-software%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906866">"You may receive a "STOP 0x00000035 NO_MORE_IRP_STACK_LOCATIONS" error message when you try to log on to a domain"</a>. October 9, 2011<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 31,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=You+may+receive+a+%22STOP+0x00000035+NO_MORE_IRP_STACK_LOCATIONS%22+error+message+when+you+try+to+log+on+to+a+domain&rft.date=2011-10-09&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fsupport.microsoft.com%2Fkb%2F906866&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span> This page tells the user to edit the registry when resolving the issue.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">key renaming is implemented as removal and add while retaining subkeys/values, as the underlying APIs do not support the rename function directly</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Regfiles-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Regfiles_27-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Regfiles_27-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Regfiles_27-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Regfiles_27-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Regfiles_27-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/310516/how-to-add-modify-or-delete-registry-subkeys-and-values-by-using-a-reg">"How to add, modify, or delete registry subkeys and values by using a .reg file"</a>. <i>support.microsoft.com</i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=support.microsoft.com&rft.atitle=How+to+add%2C+modify%2C+or+delete+registry+subkeys+and+values+by+using+a+.reg+file&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fsupport.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Fhelp%2F310516%2Fhow-to-add-modify-or-delete-registry-subkeys-and-values-by-using-a-reg&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa373481(v=vs.85).aspx">"Applying Group Policy"</a>. Microsoft.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Applying+Group+Policy&rft.pub=Microsoft&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fmsdn.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flibrary%2Fwindows%2Fdesktop%2Faa373481%28v%3Dvs.85%29.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Payette-Siddaway-2018-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Payette-Siddaway-2018_29-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Payette-Siddaway-2018_29-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Payette-Siddaway-2018_29-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFPayetteSiddaway2018" class="citation book cs1">Payette, Bruce; Siddaway, Richard (2018). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=jDszEAAAQBAJ"><i>Windows PowerShell in Action</i></a> (Third ed.). <a href="/wiki/Manning_Publications" title="Manning Publications">Manning Publications</a>. pp. 7–8, 24, 608, 708–710. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781633430297" title="Special:BookSources/9781633430297"><bdi>9781633430297</bdi></a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">August 28,</span> 2021</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Windows+PowerShell+in+Action&rft.pages=7-8%2C+24%2C+608%2C+708-710&rft.edition=Third&rft.pub=Manning+Publications&rft.date=2018&rft.isbn=9781633430297&rft.aulast=Payette&rft.aufirst=Bruce&rft.au=Siddaway%2C+Richard&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DjDszEAAAQBAJ&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWarner2015" class="citation book cs1">Warner, Timothy L. 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Retrieved <span class="nowrap">July 19,</span> 2007</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Reading+and+Writing+Registry+Values+with+Visual+Basic&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.windowsdevcenter.com%2Flpt%2Fa%2F5016&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.petri.co.il/reg_command_in_windows_xp.htm">"REG command in Windows XP"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">July 19,</span> 2007</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=REG+command+in+Windows+XP&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.petri.co.il%2Freg_command_in_windows_xp.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.tcl.tk/man/tcl8.6/TclCmd/registry.htm">"registry manual page – Tcl Bundled Packages"</a>. <i>www.tcl.tk</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">December 14,</span> 2017</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.tcl.tk&rft.atitle=registry+manual+page+%E2%80%93+Tcl+Bundled+Packages&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tcl.tk%2Fman%2Ftcl8.6%2FTclCmd%2Fregistry.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee210757.aspx">"Offline Registry Library"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">June 4,</span> 2014</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Offline+Registry+Library&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fmsdn.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flibrary%2Fee210757.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/bb759846(v=vs.85).aspx">"DllInstall Function"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Microsoft" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a>. March 7, 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 22,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=DllInstall+Function&rft.pub=Microsoft&rft.date=2012-03-07&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fmsdn.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flibrary%2Fwindows%2Fdesktop%2Fbb759846%28v%3Dvs.85%29.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-36"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-36">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms859484.aspx">"Regsvr32"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Microsoft" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. 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Microsoft.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=RegNotifyChangeKeyValue+function&rft.pub=Microsoft&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fmsdn.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flibrary%2Fwindows%2Fdesktop%2Fms724892%28v%3Dvs.85%29.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-40"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-40">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff560895(v=vs.85).aspx">"Registering for Notifications"</a>. Microsoft.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Registering+for+Notifications&rft.pub=Microsoft&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fmsdn.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flibrary%2Fwindows%2Fhardware%2Fff560895%28v%3Dvs.85%29.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-41"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-41">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms724840(v=vs.85).aspx">"RegConnectRegistry function"</a>. Microsoft.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=RegConnectRegistry+function&rft.pub=Microsoft&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fmsdn.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flibrary%2Fwindows%2Fdesktop%2Fms724840%28v%3Dvs.85%29.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-42"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-42">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314837">"How to Manage Remote Access to the Registry"</a>. Microsoft.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=How+to+Manage+Remote+Access+to+the+Registry&rft.pub=Microsoft&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fsupport.microsoft.com%2Fkb%2F314837&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-43"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-43">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFGibson2011" class="citation book cs1">Gibson, Darril (June 28, 2011). "Chapter 4: Securing Access with Permissions". <i>Microsoft Windows security : essentials</i>. 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Retrieved <span class="nowrap">August 8,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Application+Compatibility%3A+Windows+Resource+Protection+%28WRP%29&rft.pub=Microsoft&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fmsdn.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flibrary%2Fwindows%2Fdesktop%2Fbb756998.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-45"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-45">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFMarc_Silbey,_Peter_Brundrett" class="citation web cs1">Marc Silbey, Peter Brundrett. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb250462(v=vs.85).aspx">"Understanding and Working in Protected Mode Internet Explorer"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">August 8,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Understanding+and+Working+in+Protected+Mode+Internet+Explorer&rft.au=Marc+Silbey%2C+Peter+Brundrett&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fmsdn.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flibrary%2Fbb250462%28v%3Dvs.85%29.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-46"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-46">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897448.aspx">"RegDelNull v1.1"</a>. November 1, 2006<span class="reference-accessdate">. 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Retrieved <span class="nowrap">August 8,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Unable+to+delete+certain+registry+keys+%E2%80%93+Error+while+deleting+key&rft.date=2010-03-23&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fsupport.microsoft.com%2Fkb%2F2021860&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span> Microsoft Support page.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-48"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-48">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/183887/description-of-the-windows-registry-checker-tool-scanreg-exe">"Description of the Windows Registry Checker Tool (Scanreg.exe)"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Description+of+the+Windows+Registry+Checker+Tool+%28Scanreg.exe%29&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fsupport.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Fhelp%2F183887%2Fdescription-of-the-windows-registry-checker-tool-scanreg-exe&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-49"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-49">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://support.microsoft.com/EN-US/help/184023">"Command-Line Switches for the Registry Checker Tool"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Command-Line+Switches+for+the+Registry+Checker+Tool&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fsupport.microsoft.com%2FEN-US%2Fhelp%2F184023&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-50"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-50">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/323170">"How To Backup, Edit, and Restore the Registry in Windows NT 4.0"</a>. <i>support.microsoft.com</i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=support.microsoft.com&rft.atitle=How+To+Backup%2C+Edit%2C+and+Restore+the+Registry+in+Windows+NT+4.0&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fsupport.microsoft.com%2Fkb%2F323170&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-51"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-51">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc939136.aspx">"Technical Reference to the Registry: Related Resources"</a>. Microsoft<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">September 9,</span> 2011</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Technical+Reference+to+the+Registry%3A+Related+Resources&rft.pub=Microsoft&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Ftechnet.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flibrary%2Fcc939136.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-52"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-52">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWhitwam2019" class="citation news cs1">Whitwam, Ryan (July 2019). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.extremetech.com/computing/294290-microsoft-kills-automatic-registry-backups-in-windows-10">"Microsoft Kills Automatic Registry Backups in Windows 10"</a>. <i>ExtremeTech</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">July 1,</span> 2019</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=ExtremeTech&rft.atitle=Microsoft+Kills+Automatic+Registry+Backups+in+Windows+10&rft.date=2019-07&rft.aulast=Whitwam&rft.aufirst=Ryan&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.extremetech.com%2Fcomputing%2F294290-microsoft-kills-automatic-registry-backups-in-windows-10&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-53"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-53">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc784268(v=ws.10).aspx">"How Core Group Policy Works"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Microsoft" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a>. September 2, 2009<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">August 13,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=How+Core+Group+Policy+Works&rft.pub=Microsoft&rft.date=2009-09-02&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Ftechnet.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flibrary%2Fcc784268%28v%3Dws.10%29.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-54"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-54">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/ntwrkstn/reskit/26_ini.mspx?mfr=true">"Chapter 26 – Initialization Files and the Registry"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Microsoft" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 3,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Chapter+26+%E2%80%93+Initialization+Files+and+the+Registry&rft.pub=Microsoft&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.microsoft.com%2Ftechnet%2Farchive%2Fntwrkstn%2Freskit%2F26_ini.mspx%3Fmfr%3Dtrue&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-55"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-55">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/appcompat/aa905102.aspx">"Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Microsoft" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">July 26,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Microsoft+Application+Compatibility+Toolkit+5.0&rft.pub=Microsoft&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Ftechnet.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Fappcompat%2Faa905102.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-windowsinternals6-56"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-windowsinternals6_56-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-windowsinternals6_56-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFIonescu2012" class="citation book cs1">Ionescu, Mark Russinovich, David A. Solomon, Alex (2012). "Registry Internals". <i>Windows internals</i> (6th ed.). Redmond, Wash.: Microsoft Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7356-4873-9" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-7356-4873-9"><bdi>978-0-7356-4873-9</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Registry+Internals&rft.btitle=Windows+internals&rft.place=Redmond%2C+Wash.&rft.edition=6th&rft.pub=Microsoft+Press&rft.date=2012&rft.isbn=978-0-7356-4873-9&rft.aulast=Ionescu&rft.aufirst=Mark+Russinovich%2C+David+A.+Solomon%2C+Alex&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span><span class="cs1-maint citation-comment"><code class="cs1-code">{{<a href="/wiki/Template:Cite_book" title="Template:Cite book">cite book</a>}}</code>: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (<a href="/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list" title="Category:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list">link</a>)</span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-57"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-57">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/latest/index.html">"XDG Base Directory Specification"</a>. <i>standards.freedesktop.org</i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=standards.freedesktop.org&rft.atitle=XDG+Base+Directory+Specification&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fstandards.freedesktop.org%2Fbasedir-spec%2Flatest%2Findex.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-58"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-58">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120527133205/http://roscidus.com/desktop/AppDirs">"Application directories"</a>. 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Retrieved <span class="nowrap">May 17,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Application+directories&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Froscidus.com%2Fdesktop%2FAppDirs&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-riscos.com_list-59"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-riscos.com_list_59-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-riscos.com_list_59-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.riscos.com/the_archive/rol/annoyance/index.htm">"Case Studies Of The Top 132 Annoyances With Operating Systems Other Than RISC OS"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">April 3,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Case+Studies+Of+The+Top+132+Annoyances+With+Operating+Systems+Other+Than+RISC+OS&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.riscos.com%2Fthe_archive%2Frol%2Fannoyance%2Findex.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span> Page from the riscos.com website. Mentioned in points 82 and 104.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-60"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-60">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.riscos.org/tour/index.html">"RISC OS tour"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. 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Retrieved <span class="nowrap">April 1,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=The+RISC+OS+Products+Directory&rft.date=2006-11-02&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fproductsdb.riscos.com%2Fadmin%2Friscos.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-62"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-62">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.winehq.org/docs/wineusr-guide/using-regedit">3.2. Using the Registry and Regedit</a> (Wine User Guide)</span> </li> </ol></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=40" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239549316">.mw-parser-output .refbegin{margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul{margin-left:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{margin-left:0;padding-left:3.2em;text-indent:-3.2em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul,.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul li{list-style:none}@media(max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{padding-left:1.6em;text-indent:-1.6em}}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .refbegin{font-size:90%}}</style><div class="refbegin" style=""> <ul><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFHipson2002" class="citation book cs1">Hipson, Peter (2002). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=P7hQAAAAMAAJ"><i>Mastering Windows XP Registry</i></a>. <a href="/wiki/Wiley_(publisher)" title="Wiley (publisher)">Wiley</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7821-2987-0" title="Special:BookSources/0-7821-2987-0"><bdi>0-7821-2987-0</bdi></a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">August 28,</span> 2021</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Mastering+Windows+XP+Registry&rft.pub=Wiley&rft.date=2002&rft.isbn=0-7821-2987-0&rft.aulast=Hipson&rft.aufirst=Peter&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DP7hQAAAAMAAJ&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFRussinovichSolomon,_David_A.2005" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Mark_Russinovich" title="Mark Russinovich">Russinovich, Mark E.</a>; Solomon, David A. (2005). <span class="id-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780735619173/page/183"><i>Microsoft Windows Internals</i></a></span> (Fourth ed.). <a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Press" title="Microsoft Press">Microsoft Press</a>. pp. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780735619173/page/183">183–236</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7356-1917-3" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-7356-1917-3"><bdi>978-0-7356-1917-3</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Microsoft+Windows+Internals&rft.pages=183-236&rft.edition=Fourth&rft.pub=Microsoft+Press&rft.date=2005&rft.isbn=978-0-7356-1917-3&rft.aulast=Russinovich&rft.aufirst=Mark+E.&rft.au=Solomon%2C+David+A.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fisbn_9780735619173%2Fpage%2F183&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWindows+Registry" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> </div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Windows_Registry&action=edit&section=41" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li class="mw-empty-elt"></li></ul> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1235681985">.mw-parser-output .side-box{margin:4px 0;box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #aaa;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em;background-color:var(--background-color-interactive-subtle,#f8f9fa);display:flow-root}.mw-parser-output .side-box-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{padding:0.25em 0.9em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-image{padding:2px 0 2px 0.9em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-imageright{padding:2px 0.9em 2px 0;text-align:center}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .side-box-flex{display:flex;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{flex:1;min-width:0}}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .side-box{width:238px}.mw-parser-output .side-box-right{clear:right;float:right;margin-left:1em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-left{margin-right:1em}}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1237033735">@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox{display:none!important}}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox img[src*="Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg"]{background-color:white}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox img[src*="Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg"]{background-color:white}}</style><div class="side-box side-box-right plainlinks sistersitebox"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style> <div class="side-box-flex"> <div class="side-box-image"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Wikibooks-logo-en-noslogan.svg/40px-Wikibooks-logo-en-noslogan.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="40" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Wikibooks-logo-en-noslogan.svg/60px-Wikibooks-logo-en-noslogan.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Wikibooks-logo-en-noslogan.svg/80px-Wikibooks-logo-en-noslogan.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="400" data-file-height="400" /></span></span></div> <div class="side-box-text plainlist">Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: <i><b><a href="https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Windows_registry_hacks" class="extiw" title="wikibooks:Windows registry hacks">Windows registry hacks</a></b></i></div></div> </div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms724871.aspx">Windows Registry info & reference</a> in the MSDN Library</li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline 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title="Microsoft Tips">Tips</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sound_Recorder_(Windows)" title="Sound Recorder (Windows)">Voice Recorder</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/MSN#Weather" title="MSN">Weather</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xbox_(app)" title="Xbox (app)">Xbox</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Windows_shell" title="Windows shell">Shell</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Action_Center" title="Action Center">Action Center</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Aero" title="Windows Aero">Aero</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/AutoPlay" title="AutoPlay">AutoPlay</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/AutoRun" title="AutoRun">AutoRun</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/ClearType" title="ClearType">ClearType</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/File_Explorer" title="File Explorer">Explorer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Search" title="Windows Search">Search</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/IFilter" title="IFilter">IFilter</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Indexing_Service" title="Indexing Service">Indexing Service</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Shell_namespace" title="Windows Shell namespace">Namespace</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Virtual_folder#Windows" title="Virtual folder">Saved search</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Special_folder" title="Special folder">Special folder</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Start_menu" title="Start menu">Start menu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Task_View" title="Task View">Task View</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taskbar" title="Taskbar">Taskbar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Spotlight" title="Windows Spotlight">Windows Spotlight</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_XP_visual_styles" title="Windows XP visual styles">Windows XP visual styles</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Windows_service" title="Windows service">Services</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Background_Intelligent_Transfer_Service" title="Background Intelligent Transfer Service">BITS</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Common_Log_File_System" title="Common Log File System">CLFS</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Error_Reporting" title="Windows Error Reporting">Error Reporting</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Multimedia_Class_Scheduler_Service" title="Multimedia Class Scheduler Service">Multimedia Class Scheduler</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Service_Control_Manager" title="Service Control Manager">Service Control Manager</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shadow_Copy" title="Shadow Copy">Shadow Copy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Task_Scheduler" title="Windows Task Scheduler">Task Scheduler</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wireless_Zero_Configuration" title="Wireless Zero Configuration">Wireless Zero Configuration</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/File_system" title="File system">File systems</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/ISO_9660" title="ISO 9660">CDFS</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Distributed_File_System_(Microsoft)" title="Distributed File System (Microsoft)">DFS</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/ExFAT" title="ExFAT">exFAT</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/File_Allocation_Table" title="File Allocation Table">FAT</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Installable_File_System" title="Installable File System">IFS</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/NTFS" title="NTFS">NTFS</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Encrypting_File_System" title="Encrypting File System">EFS</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hard_link" title="Hard link">Hard link</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/NTFS_links" title="NTFS links">links</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/NTFS_volume_mount_point" title="NTFS volume mount point">Mount Point</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/NTFS_reparse_point" title="NTFS reparse point">Reparse point</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transactional_NTFS" title="Transactional NTFS">TxF</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/ReFS" title="ReFS">ReFS</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Universal_Disk_Format" title="Universal Disk Format">UDF</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Server_(computing)" title="Server (computing)">Server</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Active_Directory" title="Active Directory">Active Directory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Active_Directory_Rights_Management_Services" title="Active Directory Rights Management Services">Active DRM Services</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/File_Replication_Service" title="File Replication Service">DFS Replication</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Distributed_Transaction_Coordinator" title="Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator">Distributed Transaction Coordinator</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_DNS" title="Microsoft DNS">DNS</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_domain" title="Windows domain">Domains</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Folder_redirection" title="Folder redirection">Folder redirection</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Group_Policy" title="Group Policy">Group Policy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hyper-V" title="Hyper-V">Hyper-V</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Internet_Information_Services" title="Internet Information Services">IIS</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Message_Queuing" title="Microsoft Message Queuing">MSMQ</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Network_Access_Protection" title="Network Access Protection">Network Access Protection</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Print_Services_for_UNIX" title="Print Services for UNIX">Print Services for UNIX</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Personal_Web_Server" title="Microsoft Personal Web Server">PWS</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Remote_Desktop_Services" title="Remote Desktop Services">Remote Desktop Services</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Remote_Differential_Compression" title="Remote Differential Compression">Remote Differential Compression</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Remote_Installation_Services" title="Remote Installation Services">Remote Installation Services</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Roaming_user_profile" title="Roaming user profile">Roaming user profiles</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Server_Core" title="Server Core">Server Core</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/SharePoint" title="SharePoint">SharePoint</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_System_Resource_Manager" title="Windows System Resource Manager">System Resource Manager</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Deployment_Services" title="Windows Deployment Services">Windows Deployment Services</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Media_Services" title="Windows Media Services">Windows Media Services</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Server_Update_Services" title="Windows Server Update Services">WSUS</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Software_architecture" title="Software architecture">Architecture</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Boot_Manager" title="Windows Boot Manager">Boot Manager</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Console" title="Windows Console">Console</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Client/Server_Runtime_Subsystem" title="Client/Server Runtime Subsystem">CSRSS</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Desktop_Window_Manager" title="Desktop Window Manager">Desktop Window Manager</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Enhanced_Write_Filter" title="Enhanced Write Filter">Enhanced Write Filter</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Graphics_Device_Interface" title="Graphics Device Interface">Graphics Device Interface</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Windows_library_files#Hardware_Abstraction_Layer" title="Microsoft Windows library files">Hardware Abstraction Layer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/I/O_request_packet" title="I/O request packet">I/O request packet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Imaging_Format" title="Windows Imaging Format">Imaging Format</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kernel_Transaction_Manager" title="Kernel Transaction Manager">Kernel Transaction Manager</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Windows_library_files" title="Microsoft Windows library files">Library files</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Logical_Disk_Manager" title="Logical Disk Manager">Logical Disk Manager</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Local_Security_Authority_Subsystem_Service" title="Local Security Authority Subsystem Service">LSASS</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/MinWin" title="MinWin">MinWin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/NTLDR" title="NTLDR">NTLDR</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ntoskrnl.exe" title="Ntoskrnl.exe">Ntoskrnl.exe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Object_Manager" title="Object Manager">Object Manager</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Open_XML_Paper_Specification" title="Open XML Paper Specification">Open XML Paper Specification</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Portable_Executable" title="Portable Executable">Portable Executable</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Dynamic-link_library" title="Dynamic-link library">DLL</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/.exe" title=".exe">EXE</a></li></ul></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Registry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Resource_Protection" title="Windows Resource Protection">Resource Protection</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Security_Account_Manager" title="Security Account Manager">Security Account Manager</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Server_Message_Block" title="Server Message Block">Server Message Block</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shadow_Copy" title="Shadow Copy">Shadow Copy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Session_Manager_Subsystem" title="Session Manager Subsystem">SMSS</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/System_Idle_Process" title="System Idle Process">System Idle Process</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_USER" title="Windows USER">USER</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Hardware_Error_Architecture" title="Windows Hardware Error Architecture">WHEA</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Winlogon" title="Winlogon">Winlogon</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/WinUSB" title="WinUSB">WinUSB</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Security</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Security_and_Maintenance" title="Security and Maintenance">Security and Maintenance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/AppLocker" title="AppLocker">AppLocker</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/BitLocker" title="BitLocker">BitLocker</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Credential_Guard" title="Credential Guard">Credential Guard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Data_Execution_Prevention" class="mw-redirect" title="Data Execution Prevention">Data Execution Prevention</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Defender_Antivirus" title="Microsoft Defender Antivirus">Defender</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_family_features" title="Microsoft family features">Family features</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kernel_Patch_Protection" title="Kernel Patch Protection">Kernel Patch Protection</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mandatory_Integrity_Control" title="Mandatory Integrity Control">Mandatory Integrity Control</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Protected_Media_Path" title="Protected Media Path">Protected Media Path</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/User_Account_Control" title="User Account Control">User Account Control</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/User_Interface_Privilege_Isolation" title="User Interface Privilege Isolation">User Interface Privilege Isolation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Firewall" title="Windows Firewall">Windows Firewall</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Compatibility</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/COMMAND.COM" title="COMMAND.COM">COMMAND.COM</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Subsystem_for_Linux" title="Windows Subsystem for Linux">Windows Subsystem for Linux</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/WoW64" title="WoW64">WoW64</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/API" title="API">API</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Active_Scripting" title="Active Scripting">Active Scripting</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/JScript" title="JScript">JScript</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/VBScript" title="VBScript">VBScript</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Script_Host" title="Windows Script Host">WSH</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Component_Object_Model" title="Component Object Model">COM</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/ActiveX" title="ActiveX">ActiveX</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/ActiveX_Document" title="ActiveX Document">ActiveX Document</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/COM_Structured_Storage" title="COM Structured Storage">COM Structured storage</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Distributed_Component_Object_Model" title="Distributed Component Object Model">DCOM</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Object_Linking_and_Embedding" title="Object Linking and Embedding">OLE</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/OLE_Automation" title="OLE Automation">OLE Automation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Transaction_Server" title="Microsoft Transaction Server">Transaction Server</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/DirectX" title="DirectX">DirectX</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Native_API" title="Windows Native API">Native</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/.NET" title=".NET">.NET</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Universal_Windows_Platform" title="Universal Windows Platform">Universal Windows Platform</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_API" title="Windows API">WinAPI</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Mixed_Reality" title="Windows Mixed Reality">Windows Mixed Reality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Runtime" title="Windows Runtime">Windows Runtime</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/WinUSB" title="WinUSB">WinUSB</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Video_game" title="Video game">Games</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Solitaire_Collection" title="Microsoft Solitaire Collection">Solitaire Collection</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Surf_(video_game)" title="Surf (video game)">Surf</a></i></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Discontinued</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Games</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Full_Tilt!_Pinball#3D_Pinball_for_Windows_–_Space_Cadet" title="Full Tilt! Pinball">3D Pinball</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Chess_Titans" title="Chess Titans">Chess Titans</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_FreeCell" title="Microsoft FreeCell">FreeCell</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Hearts" title="Microsoft Hearts">Hearts</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Windows_Ultimate_Extras" title="Windows Ultimate Extras">Hold 'Em</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/InkBall" title="InkBall">InkBall</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Purble_Place" title="Purble Place">Purble Place</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Solitaire" title="Microsoft Solitaire">Solitaire</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Spider_Solitaire" title="Microsoft Spider Solitaire">Spider Solitaire</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Tinker" title="Microsoft Tinker">Tinker</a></i></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Apps</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/ActiveMovie" title="ActiveMovie">ActiveMovie</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Address_Book" title="Windows Address Book">Address Book</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Anytime_Upgrade" title="Windows Anytime Upgrade">Anytime Upgrade</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Backup_and_Restore" title="Backup and Restore">Backup and Restore</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cardfile" title="Cardfile">Cardfile</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_CardSpace" title="Windows CardSpace">CardSpace</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/CD_Player_(Windows)" title="CD Player (Windows)">CD Player</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Chat" title="Windows Chat">Chat</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Contacts" title="Windows Contacts">Contacts</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cortana_(virtual_assistant)" title="Cortana (virtual assistant)">Cortana</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Desktop_Gadgets" title="Windows Desktop Gadgets">Desktop Gadgets</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Diagnostics" title="Microsoft Diagnostics">Diagnostics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/DriveSpace" title="DriveSpace">DriveSpace</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_DVD_Maker" title="Windows DVD Maker">DVD Maker</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Easy_Transfer" title="Windows Easy Transfer">Easy Transfer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Fax" class="mw-redirect" title="Microsoft Fax">Fax</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/MSN_Food_%26_Drink" class="mw-redirect" title="MSN Food & Drink">Food & Drink</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Groove_Music" title="Groove Music">Groove Music</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/MSN_Health_%26_Fitness" class="mw-redirect" title="MSN Health & Fitness">Health & Fitness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Help_and_Support_Center" class="mw-redirect" title="Help and Support Center">Help and Support Center</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/HyperACCESS" title="HyperACCESS">HyperTerminal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Imaging_for_Windows" title="Imaging for Windows">Imaging</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Internet_Explorer" title="Internet Explorer">Internet Explorer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Journal" title="Windows Journal">Journal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Make_Compatible" title="Make Compatible">Make Compatible</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Media_Center" title="Windows Media Center">Media Center</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Meeting_Space" title="Windows Meeting Space">Meeting Space</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Messaging" title="Windows Messaging">Messaging</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Messenger" title="Windows Messenger">Messenger</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Mobile_Device_Center" title="Windows Mobile Device Center">Mobile Device Center</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Movie_Maker" title="Windows Movie Maker">Movie Maker</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/MSN_Dial-up" title="MSN Dial-up">MSN Dial-up</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_NetMeeting" title="Microsoft NetMeeting">NetMeeting</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/NTBackup" title="NTBackup">NTBackup</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Outlook_Express" title="Outlook Express">Outlook Express</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paint_3D" title="Paint 3D">Paint 3D</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Pay" title="Microsoft Pay">Pay</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Phone_Companion" title="Phone Companion">Phone Companion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Photo_Gallery" title="Windows Photo Gallery">Photo Gallery</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Photo_Viewer" title="Windows Photo Viewer">Photo Viewer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Program_Manager" title="Program Manager">Program Manager</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Problem_Steps_Recorder" class="mw-redirect" title="Problem Steps Recorder">Steps Recorder</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Syskey" title="Syskey">Syskey</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Travel_(Windows)" class="mw-redirect" title="Travel (Windows)">Travel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/WinHelp" title="WinHelp">WinHelp</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/WordPad" title="WordPad">WordPad</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Write" title="Microsoft Write">Write</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Others</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Desktop_Cleanup_Wizard" title="Desktop Cleanup Wizard">Desktop Cleanup Wizard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_File_Protection" title="Windows File Protection">File Protection</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Games_for_Windows" title="Games for Windows">Games for Windows</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/High_Performance_File_System" title="High Performance File System">HPFS</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Interix" title="Interix">Interix</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Media_Control_Interface" title="Media Control Interface">Media Control Interface</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/MS-DOS_7" title="MS-DOS 7">MS-DOS 7</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Next-Generation_Secure_Computing_Base" title="Next-Generation Secure Computing Base">Next-Generation Secure Computing Base</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_POSIX_subsystem" title="Microsoft POSIX subsystem">POSIX subsystem</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_ScanDisk" title="Microsoft ScanDisk">ScanDisk</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Video_for_Windows" title="Video for Windows">Video for Windows</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Virtual_DOS_machine" title="Virtual DOS machine">Virtual DOS machine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_on_Windows" title="Windows on Windows">Windows on Windows</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Services_for_UNIX" title="Windows Services for UNIX">Windows Services for UNIX</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_SideShow" title="Windows SideShow">Windows SideShow</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_System_Assessment_Tool" title="Windows System Assessment Tool">Windows System Assessment Tool</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_To_Go" title="Windows To Go">Windows To Go</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/WinFS" title="WinFS">WinFS</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Spun off to<br /><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Store" title="Microsoft Store">Microsoft Store</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/DVD_Player_(Windows)" title="DVD Player (Windows)">DVD Player</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_File_Manager" title="Windows File Manager">File Manager</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hover!" title="Hover!">Hover!</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Mahjong" title="Microsoft Mahjong">Mahjong</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Minesweeper" title="Microsoft Minesweeper">Minesweeper</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><span class="noviewer" 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