Registry is the name of Windows hierarchical database, that Windows uses to store options and configurations for a Microsoft Operating System.

The registry contains set-up for components of low-level operating systems and the applications based on that platform. Registry is used by device drivers, the kernels, SAM, user interface, services and all the third party software.

Windows registry also offers a way to access counters to profile performance of the system.

The Windows Registry was first launched in the market with Windows 3.1 to store important configuration information for COM-based components.

The use of registry, with the induction of Windows NT and Windows 95, was expanded to include the organization of abundant INI files for each program whose use was previously made for storing settings of configuration for programs on Windows.

The Windows registry has two essentials: keys and values.

Registry Values refer to the pairs of name/data stored within the keys.

The Windows API functions, which query and maneuver registry values, obtain the names of values distinctly from the key path and/or from the handle that recognizes the parent key.

The terminology seems to be misleading because the values resemble to an associative array. This associative array uses standard terminology for referring the name part of the value as a key.

The terminologies are a proffer from the 16-bit registry of Windows 3, wherein keys did not possess arbitrary pairs of name/data, but instead had just a single unnamed value that essentially needed to be a string.

The Windows registry can be edited in a manual way in MS Windows by executing regedt32.exe or regedit.exe in the directory of Windows.

Although, neglectfully editing the registry can result in irreparable damage or you end up with a slow Vista. Therefore, Microsoft and several industry experts, including the writers and editors of leading trade magazines, have highly recommended to perform backups of the registry prior to editing it.

A straightforward implementation of the present-day registry tool surfaced in Windows 3.x operating system, dubbed as “Registration Info Editor” or simply “Registration Editor”.

This was a database of applications primarily used to edit inserted OLE objects in documents.

But the users need to be cautious as the two editors on the aforementioned platforms differ tremendously.

Microsoft Windows XP was the first system in which both the programs were integrated into one. This integrated program contained the interface of REGEDIT.EXE and the functionality of REGEDT32.EXE.

However, the distinctions do not occur with Windows XP as well as the newer versions REGEDIT.EXE being the improved editor and REGEDT32.EXE being purely a stub invoking REGEDIT.EXE.

The Registry Editor enables users to do the following functions easily:

• Importing and exporting .REG files, exporting data in the binary hive format
• Creating, manipulating, renaming and deleting registry keys, subkeys, values and value data
• Finding particular strings in key names, value names and value data
• Bookmarking user-selected registry keys as Favorites

Registry editing in Linux is also possible by making use of Offline NT Password and Registry Editor for editing files.

Frustration increases as your PC gets older and slower.

If your Windows Registry contains a lot of outdated entries, you’ll end up with a very slow computer

Your windows operating systems contains a very important file called windows Registry. It holds data about your computer. The location of all the software you have installed, the DLLs files, program short cuts that reside on your desktop and in the Windows start menu.

windows registry will record allmost every event that happens on your Windows Computer. This could be the position of the files that you have used recently, it could also be information about currently installed programs and programs that have been uninsatlled again.

Many things can cause a PC to become slow, and they can hit any PC.

It just means that your computer needs professional help!

These 3 steps are typically followed by a profressional tool:

• The tool scans you PC and detects the errors on you Windows operating system (e.g. Windows XP, Vista and 7).
• Reparing the errors
• Eventually your computer is faster, it will also boot faster because it no loger has any registry errors.

More thinks that can make your computer slow

Other factors than a non-cleaned Windows Registry can cause your computer to be slow

At times is it the anti virus application that is configured poorly causing your PC to be slow

The anti virus program can be configured to analize irrelevant files, this will cause the program to waste a lot of valuable CPU time.

Additionally anti virus programs are often set to analyza local harddrives as well as network drives.

A local hard drive is much faster than a network drive, thus scanning a network drive eats up a lot of CPU.

Normally you will not compromise you security if you disable network scans within your antivirus application.

- Louise P. Junez