Using The Registry Editor - Editing Keys And Values

3:04 AM Posted by AskME

What you should know about the Windows registry.

All users who in one way or another interest you make changes and adjustments to its operating system for it, whether to customize it, make it more productive, more efficient, add and remove components at will, as we do in our office or our room, they must understand the structure and operation of the registry, also known essential elements of its management and basic editing form.
No advanced knowledge is required, there are small tools as we will see who can make changes or enter settings to your liking in an easy and I'm not talking about programs or third party applications.
The Windows registry is simply a central database, a central information store that contains all the diverse range of information necessary for Windows to operate both the hardware and software. Each operating system has to hand the information necessary for its operation stored somewhere, so Microsoft created the Windows registry.
Everything that moves, is changed, altered in Windows, thus creating a new folder, and install a program, is registered with all the details in the register, hence the importance of learning their rules.
The log configuration information is stored in binary form, but not accesses this data directly. Windows comes with an accessory called the Registry Editor, also known as Regedit that provides the interface and the means necessary to enter or modify data and information it contains.

Windows Registry Structure.

Information in the Registry is organized into a tree as folders and files, much like the browser. In the registry, the information is stored in key .These are like folders. Keys can have subkeys like folders have subfolders. The data contained in a code is called value. Something like a file. The data may actually have many formats and can be a string, number or series of numbers.
No need to directly edit the Registry Editor (Regedit), there are some interfaces to edit the Windows settings made in the Register, for example.

Group Policy Editor
There is an administration console called the Group Policy Editor. To open, go to Start, Run and enter gpedit.msc, see the multitude of options to configure.

INF files.
The INF files with the extension can also be used to edit the registry, you can make and edit with Notepad.

Registry files (. Reg)
There is another way, best known for the average PC user can easily perform registry edits without having to face the beast, are small files with REG. To edit the registry with them only need to create or edit them with notepad and click the right mouse button on the file and select Merge from the context menu that opens, the values contained in it were added to the registry.

VBScript files.
Scripts files are written in VBScript and VBS extension is another common way to edit the registry.

Many examples of all the above files you will find in the pages whose links are listed above.

Registry hives

When you start Regedit will see that the register is divided into five main sections, the most commonly used in editing and configuration are the first three.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER Contains the configuration information of the user who is logged on. The user's folders, screen colors, and Control Panel settings are stored here. This key is sometimes abbreviated to HKCU.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Contains configuration information particular to the computer (for any user). This key is sometimes abbreviated as HKLM.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT The information stored here makes sure that when you open a file with Windows Explorer will open the correct program. You can also find the subkey of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software.

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG contains information about the hardware profile that uses the local computer when the system boots.

HKEY_USERS Contains all actively loaded user profiles on the computer. HKEY_CURRENT_USER is a sub key of HKEY_USERS. HKEY_USERS is sometimes abbreviated as HKU.

Main data types currently defined are used in Windows.

String Value REG_SZ A string of fixed length text.

Binary Value REG_BINARY Raw binary data. Most hardware component information is stored as binary data and is displayed in hexadecimal format in the Registry Editor.

DWORD Value REG_DWORD

Data represented by a 4 bytes long (a 32-bit integer value). Many parameters for device drivers and services are this type and are displayed in Registry Editor in binary, hexadecimal or decimal.

Multi-String Value REG_MULTI_SZ

A multiple string Values that contain lists or multiple values, this is the format which is easier reading. The entries are separated by spaces, commas or other punctuation.

Expandable String Value REG_EXPAND_SZ

String of variable length data. This data type includes variables that are resolved when a program or service uses the data.

Before you edit the registry, export the registry keys you want to change or make a backup of the entire registry.

Tags: General, Windows 7

Share your views...

0 Respones to "Using The Registry Editor - Editing Keys And Values"