The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform. The kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user interface and third party applications all make use of the registry. The registry also provides a means to access counters for profiling system performance.
When first introduced with Windows 3.1, the Windows registry's primary purpose was to store configuration information for COM-based components. With the introduction of Windows 95 and Windows NT, its use was extended to tidy up the profusion of per-program INI files that had previously been used to store configuration settings for Windows programs. It is not a requirement for a Windows application to use the Windows Registry—for example, .Net Framework applications use XML files for configuration, while portable applications usually keep their configuration data within files in the directory/folder where the application executable resides.
Read more about Windows Registry: Rationale, File Locations, Security, Backups and Recovery, .INI File Virtualization, Registry Virtualization, Disadvantages, Equivalents in Other Operating Systems
Famous quotes containing the word windows:
“The frost was on the village roofs as white as ocean foam;
The good red fires were burning bright in every ‘longshore home;
The windows sparkled clear, and the chimneys volleyed out;
And I vow we sniffed the victuals as the vessel went about.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)