Keys and values are the two fundamental elements employed by Windows Registry to properly archive its database.Keys are comparable to regular folders. It may contain numerous subkeys that may also contain subkeys and so on and so forth. These keys and subkeys are identified based on their syntax.
Root Keys:
HKEY_USERS
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
HKEY_DYN_DATA
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Stored in every key are its Registry Values or data pairs. These values are archived separately from the keys. The WinAPI (Windows Application Programming Interface) manoeuvres values through their names and detach them from the key path that distinguishes the parent key.
There are three types of these values; String, DWORD and Binary. The type of values used depends on the data's context.
REG_SZ is the basic string type value. It is utilized to correspond to text values readable to humans.
REG_MULTI_SZ is a multiple string type values are employed to correspond to values holding lists of values with separated by a NULL character .
REG_EXPAND_SZ is a flexible string containing replaceable value triggered by an application in action.
REG_DWORD represents values in a four-byte number and is usually utilized for Boolean values like "0" are immobilized and "1" is mobilized. Constraints on most device drivers are represented by this type of values.
REG_BINARY values are stored as raw binary data. It is commonly composed of hardware component information. These values can be displayed at the regedit.exe in hexadecimal format.
Windows Registry can be altered manually by executing the regedit.exe. This process must be done by people with technical know-how otherwise, erroneous alterations can cause the Windows operating system to fail.
Registry errors can impair computer's performance by slowing down its reaction time thus limiting its users' productivity. Running a regular registry cleaner scan can help optimize the computer's performance by tweaking and removal of erroneous data. Tweaking the data modifies the computer's registry to further enhance or disable hardware or software features.
A computer's registry is very important so it is a must to keep it in a good running condition at all times.