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%Start Windows Registry (What It Is and How to Use It) GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Software & Apps &gt; Windows 364 364 people found this article helpful <h1> What Is the Windows Registry?</h1> <h2> Windows Registry: What it is and what it&#39;s used for</h2> By Tim Fisher Tim Fisher Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability Emporia State University Tim Fisher has more than 30 years&#39; of professional technology experience. He&#39;s been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the VP and General Manager of Lifewire.
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%Start Windows Registry (What It Is and How to Use It) GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Software & Apps > Windows 364 364 people found this article helpful

What Is the Windows Registry?

Windows Registry: What it is and what it's used for

By Tim Fisher Tim Fisher Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability Emporia State University Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the VP and General Manager of Lifewire.
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lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on April 19, 2022 Reviewed by Chris Selph Reviewed by Chris Selph Chris Selph is a CompTIA-certified technology and vocational IT teacher. He also serves as network &amp; server administrator and performs computer maintenance and repair for numerous clients. lifewire's editorial guidelines Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email <h3> In This Article</h3> Expand Jump to a Section When to Use Windows Registry How to Access the Registry How to Use the Registry Availability in Windows Location of the Registry The Windows Registry is a collection of databases of configuration settings for Microsoft Windows operating systems.
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lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on April 19, 2022 Reviewed by Chris Selph Reviewed by Chris Selph Chris Selph is a CompTIA-certified technology and vocational IT teacher. He also serves as network & server administrator and performs computer maintenance and repair for numerous clients. lifewire's editorial guidelines Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email

In This Article

Expand Jump to a Section When to Use Windows Registry How to Access the Registry How to Use the Registry Availability in Windows Location of the Registry The Windows Registry is a collection of databases of configuration settings for Microsoft Windows operating systems.
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Ethan Thomas 5 minutes ago

What Is the Windows Registry Used For

Registry Hives (Windows 11). This part of Windows ...
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Elijah Patel 3 minutes ago
For example, when a new program is installed, a new set of instructions and file references may be a...
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<h2> What Is the Windows Registry Used For </h2> Registry Hives (Windows 11). This part of Windows stores much of the information and settings for software programs, hardware devices, user preferences, and operating system configurations.
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What Is the Windows Registry Used For

Registry Hives (Windows 11). This part of Windows stores much of the information and settings for software programs, hardware devices, user preferences, and operating system configurations.
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For example, when a new program is installed, a new set of instructions and file references may be added to the registry in a specific location for the program, and others that may interact with it, to refer to for more information like where the files are located, which options to use in the program, etc. In many ways, the registry can be thought of as a kind of DNA for the Windows operating system. It's not necessary for all Windows applications to use the Windows Registry.
Christopher Lee Member
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For example, when a new program is installed, a new set of instructions and file references may be added to the registry in a specific location for the program, and others that may interact with it, to refer to for more information like where the files are located, which options to use in the program, etc. In many ways, the registry can be thought of as a kind of DNA for the Windows operating system. It's not necessary for all Windows applications to use the Windows Registry.
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Some programs store their configurations in XML or other types of files instead of the registry, and others are entirely portable and store their data in an executable file. <h2> How to Access the Windows Registry </h2> The Windows Registry is accessed and configured using the Registry Editor program, a free registry editing utility included by default with every version of Microsoft Windows going back to Windows 95. Registry Editor isn't a program you download.
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Some programs store their configurations in XML or other types of files instead of the registry, and others are entirely portable and store their data in an executable file.

How to Access the Windows Registry

The Windows Registry is accessed and configured using the Registry Editor program, a free registry editing utility included by default with every version of Microsoft Windows going back to Windows 95. Registry Editor isn't a program you download.
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Hannah Kim 11 minutes ago
Instead, it can be accessed by executing regedit from the Command Prompt or from the search or ...
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Sophia Chen 13 minutes ago
This editor is the face of the registry and is the way to view and make changes to the registry, but...
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Instead, it can be&nbsp;accessed by executing regedit from the Command Prompt or from the search or Run box from the Start menu. See How to Open Registry Editor if you need help.
Jack Thompson Member
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Instead, it can be accessed by executing regedit from the Command Prompt or from the search or Run box from the Start menu. See How to Open Registry Editor if you need help.
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Aria Nguyen 2 minutes ago
This editor is the face of the registry and is the way to view and make changes to the registry, but...
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Sofia Garcia 6 minutes ago
Making changes to these values and keys change the configuration that a particular value controls. H...
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This editor is the face of the registry and is the way to view and make changes to the registry, but it&#39;s not the registry itself. Technically, the registry is the collective name for various database files located in the Windows installation directory. <h2> How to Use the Windows Registry </h2> The registry contains registry values (which are instructions), located within registry keys (folders that contain more data), all within one of several registry hives (folders that categorize all the data in the registry using subfolders).
Oliver Taylor Member
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This editor is the face of the registry and is the way to view and make changes to the registry, but it's not the registry itself. Technically, the registry is the collective name for various database files located in the Windows installation directory.

How to Use the Windows Registry

The registry contains registry values (which are instructions), located within registry keys (folders that contain more data), all within one of several registry hives (folders that categorize all the data in the registry using subfolders).
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Kevin Wang 7 minutes ago
Making changes to these values and keys change the configuration that a particular value controls. H...
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Making changes to these values and keys change the configuration that a particular value controls. How to Add, Change, & Delete Registry Keys & Values Making changes to registry values solves a problem, answers a question, or alters a program in some way: How to Auto Login to Windows How to Prevent Programs From Stealing Focus in Windows How to Delete the UpperFilters and LowerFilters Registry Values How to Check Your PC's BIOS Version in the Windows Registry The registry is constantly referenced by Windows and other programs. When you make changes to nearly any setting, changes are also made to the appropriate areas in the registry, though these changes are sometimes not realized until you reboot the computer.
Ethan Thomas Member
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Making changes to these values and keys change the configuration that a particular value controls. How to Add, Change, & Delete Registry Keys & Values Making changes to registry values solves a problem, answers a question, or alters a program in some way: How to Auto Login to Windows How to Prevent Programs From Stealing Focus in Windows How to Delete the UpperFilters and LowerFilters Registry Values How to Check Your PC's BIOS Version in the Windows Registry The registry is constantly referenced by Windows and other programs. When you make changes to nearly any setting, changes are also made to the appropriate areas in the registry, though these changes are sometimes not realized until you reboot the computer.
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Natalie Lopez 7 minutes ago
Considering how important the Windows Registry is, backing up the parts of it you're changing, befor...
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See How to Back up the Windows Registry for help generating manual backups. Additionally, just in ca...
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Considering how important the Windows Registry is, backing up the parts of it you're changing, before you change them, is very important. Registry backup files are saved as REG files.
Christopher Lee Member
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Considering how important the Windows Registry is, backing up the parts of it you're changing, before you change them, is very important. Registry backup files are saved as REG files.
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See How to Back up the Windows Registry for help generating manual backups. Additionally, just in ca...
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Even though the registry is available in almost every Windows version, some very small differences d...
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See How to Back up the Windows Registry for help generating manual backups. Additionally, just in case you need it, here's our&nbsp;How to Restore the Windows Registry tutorial, which explains how to import REG files back into the Registry Editor. <h2> Windows Registry Availability </h2> The Windows Registry and the Microsoft Registry Editor program are available in nearly every Windows version including&nbsp;Windows 11, Windows 10,&nbsp;Windows 8,&nbsp;Windows 7,&nbsp;Windows Vista,&nbsp;Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows 98, and Windows 95.
Daniel Kumar Member
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See How to Back up the Windows Registry for help generating manual backups. Additionally, just in case you need it, here's our How to Restore the Windows Registry tutorial, which explains how to import REG files back into the Registry Editor.

Windows Registry Availability

The Windows Registry and the Microsoft Registry Editor program are available in nearly every Windows version including Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows 98, and Windows 95.
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Even though the registry is available in almost every Windows version, some very small differences d...
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Where Is the Windows Registry Stored

The SAM, SECURITY, SOFTWARE, SYSTEM, and DEFAULT re...
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Even though the registry is available in almost every Windows version, some very small differences do exist between them. The registry has replaced autoexec.bat, config.sys, and nearly all the&nbsp;INI files&nbsp;that contained configuration information in MS-DOS and in very early versions of Windows.
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Even though the registry is available in almost every Windows version, some very small differences do exist between them. The registry has replaced autoexec.bat, config.sys, and nearly all the INI files that contained configuration information in MS-DOS and in very early versions of Windows.
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Where Is the Windows Registry Stored

The SAM, SECURITY, SOFTWARE, SYSTEM, and DEFAULT re...
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<h2> Where Is the Windows Registry Stored </h2> The SAM, SECURITY, SOFTWARE, SYSTEM, and DEFAULT registry&nbsp;files, among others,&nbsp;are&nbsp;stored in newer versions of Windows (Windows XP through Windows 11) in this System32 folder:<br> %SystemRoot%\System32\Config\ Older versions of Windows use the&nbsp;%WINDIR%&nbsp;folder to store registry data as&nbsp;DAT&nbsp;files.&nbsp;Windows 3.11 uses only one registry file for the entire Windows Registry, called&nbsp;REG.DAT. Windows 2000 keeps a backup copy of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE System&nbsp;key that it uses to troubleshoot a problem with the existing one.
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Where Is the Windows Registry Stored

The SAM, SECURITY, SOFTWARE, SYSTEM, and DEFAULT registry files, among others, are stored in newer versions of Windows (Windows XP through Windows 11) in this System32 folder:
%SystemRoot%\System32\Config\ Older versions of Windows use the %WINDIR% folder to store registry data as DAT files. Windows 3.11 uses only one registry file for the entire Windows Registry, called REG.DAT. Windows 2000 keeps a backup copy of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE System key that it uses to troubleshoot a problem with the existing one.
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