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The Windows Registry

The registry on windows is a database single place for keeping all information as what programs are installed on your system, what hardware is attached "drivers that will use", all your preferences like favorite "desktop background", special system options that are selected, how computer memory is distributed, all startup programs, changes to a Control Panel settings, or File Associations, System Policies, etc.

The actual database files that make up the registry are stored in different locations depending on your version of Windows:

Windows 95 & 98 it is contained in two hidden files in your Windows directory, called USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT
Windows Me there is an additional CLASSES.DAT file, while under
Windows NT/2000/XP the files are contained seperately in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Config directory.
Unfortunately every time we use the computer the registry will be modified in some way. Every time that you install a program entries are added to the registry and after some time chances are that you will remove that program to install a new version or a complete different one. This entries with time will make the registry a lot bigger than what is supposed to be and eventually slow down the performance of your computer.

Modifying Windows Registry is a very delicate task and deleting the wrong entry can render your PC practically unusable. The Internet is flooded with registry cleaning utilities that may remove vital system entries when cleaning your registry. Some of them have backup and restore options, but an error in Windows Registry may prevent Windows from booting - so not even a backup can help you at this point.

There is a few utilities out there that will scan the Windows Registry to identify errors and ways to optimize the performance of the Windows Registry. Please be cautious when using any of this tools. The windows registry is the heart of the operating system.

For more information about the tools that can safely optimize the registry visit:

http://www.fixpcnetwork.com

Rafael Arriaga.
Computer Help anytime!