I.1. Windows Registry Data Types
In the same way that database table fields, variables, and API parameters require data of specific types, the kind of data the Registry can store is also defined in terms of data types. The data types in the table that follows are supported under Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista.
| Data Type | Description |
|---|---|
| REG_BINARY | Specifies raw binary data. Most hardware information is stored with this data type, which can be displayed and entered in binary or hexadecimal format. |
| REG_DWORD | A 32-bit (4-byte) number, which is used to store Boolean or other numeric values and information about many device drivers and services. REG_DWORD values can be displayed and edited as binary, hexadecimal, or decimal format. |
| REG_DWORD_LITTLE_ENDIAN | Same as REG_DWORD, a 32-bit number, but it is used to store values in a specific way. In REG_DWORD_LITTLE_ENDIAN, the most significant byte contains the high-order byte (leftmost). This is the most common format for storing numbers in Windows. |
| REG_DWORD_BIG_ENDIAN | The only difference between this data type and REG_DWORD_LITTLE_ENDIAN is that this data type stores the most-significant byte as the low-order byte (rightmost). |
| REG_EXPAND_SZ | A variable-length text string used to store variables that are resolved when an application or service uses the data. For example, some values include the variable System root. When a service or application references the data in this data type, it is replaced by the name of the directory containing the ... |
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