21.1. Registry
The registry is a single, well-organized location that stores all system, application, and user- configuration information. If you are a former Windows 3.1 programmer, then you are familiar with INI files. All of that information is now in the registry. If you are a UNIX programmer, you are familiar with the use of"dot files" to store application and user information, along with a variety of different text files to store system information. In Windows, all of this information is centralized in the registry.
Normally a user or administrator does not manipulate the registry directly, although this sort of manipulation is possible using the Registry Editor. Instead, applications act as editors for certain sections of the registry, ...
Get Win32 System Services: The Heart of Windows® 98 and Windows® 2000 now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
