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Scanning Your Registry |
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Repairing Your Registry |
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What to Scan
The Windows Registry is not one complete file and thus may also be scanned
in part. This
topic explains what the Windows Registry is, what problems are caused
by errors and incongruences in the Windows Registry, and how the Windows
Registry is structured. The
topic also lists the sections as scanned by Registry Booster.
The Windows Registry
The registry is a centralised hierarchical database used by Windows
(9x, ME, NT, 2000, 2003, and XP) to store computer configuration information.
This information is necessary for Windows to run your computer system
including all your installed applications and hardware devices. Not only
does the registry save the path and location of these items, it also retains
other details which help the processor to locate applications and hardware
devices quickly and efficiently thereby reduce decreasing processing time.
Records are kept of each and every item present
Registry entries include details on:
User profiles, settings, options and preferences Applications installed on the computer Property settings for folders and applications Hardware devices installed on the system Ports being used System Policies File Associations
Whenever you make any changes in your preferences or settings, installed
software or hardware, these changes are stored in the Windows registry.
Windows Registry Problems
If your system is new, usually you will not notice the need to effect
any changes to your registry. However, over time, your registry will grow
as you add and remove software and hardware on your computer. These additions
and deletions will cause your Windows registry to become fragmented, corrupted
or full of errors.
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As you continue changing
preferences, installing and uninstalling software and hardware, the registry
grows and becomes more complex. In addition, the chances of errors and
missing, obsolete or corrupt entries increases exponentially.
The longer you use Windows,
the more cluttered the Windows Registry will get.
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Common errors include:
Missing, orphaned, broken or bad application/Windows
paths, shortcuts and links, Unwanted browser objects, Unused, obsolete Start Menu items, Missing or corrupt application IDs, Corrupt Active X/COM Objects, Residual and unused file and drivers, Unnecessary recent files list.
When you remove software from your system, for example, it is highly
probable that residuals are still littering your hard drive and your registry.
The result? Frequent error messages, slow start-ups, sluggishness, declining
performance, system stalls, severe degradation in operating speed, unstable
and frequent application errors and crashes, and, at times, even an inability
to start Windows.
More often than not, these problems happen because:
You install or uninstall applications including
trial downloads. Some programmes are never really completely uninstalled
leaving hard-to-find traces in your Windows registry. You have embedded spyware, adware or other components
(such as DLLs or programmes that revive themselves on every start up. You have unused but undeleted drivers within your
system. It is critical to have a healthy and clean Registry
for optimum system performance and system stability. Registry entries
should not be left to stagnate in your system where they may eventually
cause problems. Keeping track of all this information is gruelling
and bewildering – it’s not an easy job.
Windows Registry Structure
The registry database is stored in a hierarchical structure as may be
seen from the screen shot below. It
may be best to conceive the registry as a tree divided into a number of
areas or branches. Depending on your Windows version, the Registry comprises
four to six sub-trees of keys called hives
(also referred to as discrete files).
Each hive contains a Registry sub-tree, which has a key that serves
as the root (i.e., starting point) of the tree. A registry hive is a group
of keys, subkeys, and values in the registry that has a set of supporting
files containing backups of its data. Subkeys and their values reside
beneath the root. The values contain the actual information stored in
the Registry.
The majority of the information in the Registry is placed there automatically
by Windows when the operating system is installed. The rest comes from
applications and hardware via installation routines.
It is also possible to edit Registry data manually, allowing you to
tweak, enable or fix certain settings.
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Any changes you make to the
registry using Registry Editor are permanent, there is no “undo” button,
so be very careful what you do.
Only edit the registry if
you know what you are doing: the consequences of your mistakes could be
rather extreme - at its worst, you will need to re-install Windows from
scratch.
Edit at your own risk, and
as a rule of thumb always make a backup.
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The following screen-shots are taken from the Windows Registry Editor
(type 'regedit.exe' at the Start Menu->Run prompt).
Folders represent keys in the registry (files represent hives) and are
shown in the navigation area on the left side of the Registry Editor window.
In the topic area on the right, the entries in a key are displayed. When
you double-click a entry, it opens an editing dialog box.
As such, what you need to remember is that there are six root keys,
each of which contains specific registry information:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
contains file associations and OLE information necessary to launch applications.
Associations define what program runs when you double-click on a file
name, what Context menu items appear when you right-click on the file.
For example the root stores information about Active X controls, the names
of all drivers, icons used for applications and documents, information
supporting the drag-and-drop feature, all the extensions and the associations
between applications and documents, shortcuts, COM sections and crucial
features of the Windows user interface. The root key controls all the
data files. HKEY_CURRENT_USER
contains the configuration information for the user who is currently logged
on the machine. This portion of the registry links to the relevant area
in the HKEY_USERS branch and cannot be edited. The HKEY_USERS
branch contains the profiles (including all the specific data) of all
the users of the particular computer. This includes such items as screen
savers, start menu settings and desktop preferences, fonts, event sounds,
the recent start/run entries and folder view preferences for each user
including default settings for new users. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
has computer-specific configuration information used for all users who
log onto computer. This key contains five-sub keys namely
Hardware (including the system hardware database
generated during boot-up, all device drivers to be loaded, IRQ hooks and
DMA settings and all resource allocations for each driver) Security Accounts Manager (SAM) containing
the user and group account database. Security containing security policy information. Software containing all configuration definitions
and data for all software installed on the computer including the operating
system. You will see sub-keys for each software title installed on the
system. System information.
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
contains all the relevant information relating to the hardware installed
on the particular computer. This information is used by the computer at
system start-up. HKEY_DYN_DATA
stores all plug and play information on the computer. Since this configuration
information requires fast modification and retrieval by Windows, it is
sent to RAM since the system cannot wait for the registry to send it to
the hard drive. The information in this key is created afresh every time
Windows is started and is thus dynamic also changing as devices are added
and removed from the system.
Each registry value is stored as one of six main data types:
REG_BINARY:
The data is in raw binary. Most of the information relating to hardware
components is stored in this format and may be displayed by the Windows
Registry Editor in hexadecimal format. REG_DWORD
this indicates that the data type is stored in a double word, always displayed
as a four-byte number. Device drivers and services parameters are often
of this type and can be viewed in binary, hexadecimal, or decimal using
the Registry editor. REG_EXPAND_SZ
relates to a data string of variable length. This data type includes variables
that are resolved when a program or service uses the data. REG_MULTI_SZ
is a multiple string. Values of this type of data usually contain list
or multiple values that users are able to read. REG_SZ
relates to a fixed length text string. REG_FULL_RESOURCE_DESCRIPTOR
are used in hardware registry keys.
Other data types exist however these are not available through the standard
registry editors.
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Incorrectly editing the registry
may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry,
you should back up any valued data on your computer.
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What to Scan
Several problems may occur within your registry and are generally related
to registry fragmentation, and corrupt, unused, missing, orphaned or obsolete
entries.
Fragmentation may be a serious
problem and usually occurs because certain processes continually and incrementally
modify the same values within the registry. This fragmentation, in certain
cases, be excessive and eventually registry file sizes may exceed the
Registry Size Limits imposed by Windows. This will cause any subsequent
modifications to the registry to fail.
Other registry errors include such corrupt,
unused, missing, orphaned or obsolete entries as:
The Registry Sections Scanned
by Registry Booster
Registry Booster scans the following sections for the above errors:
This can be seen from the screen shot below:
What's Next?
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