Registry software scans and optimizes a computer’s registry, which stores information about system configuration and application settings. The registry becomes oversized and redundant over time, leading to slow startups, instability, and crashes. Registry software removes redundancy, broken links, and unnecessary details, and backs up the registry for easy restoration. Advanced users can use “regedit.exe” to make custom changes to the registry.
Registry software is a term used to describe various applications that scan or manipulate a computer’s registry. The registry is a large data repository used by Windows® operating systems to store information about system configuration and application settings. Entries are made in the registry when the system is first installed and each time it is changed thereafter when a new application is installed. Over time, the database can become oversized and redundant. Implementing registry software on a computer scans and repairs the registry, optimizing it for better system performance. There are also some types of registry software that allow the user to manually browse the registry and make custom changes to its entries.
The Windows® registry is divided into hives, each corresponding to an information domain. For example, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE is a hive dedicated to details regarding a machine’s hardware. Similarly, there are other hives that contain data about plug-and-play devices and specific user preferences, such as Start Menu settings, desktop icons, login names, and core Windows® operations. As the user customizes the machine and installs third-party applications over time, the registry becomes large and many of the values become redundant. This ultimately results in extremely slow system startups, system instability, and frequent hard drive crashes.
Most registry software scans the registry for indications of redundancy and cleans it up to improve machine performance. Complete this process by checking the registry for duplicate values, unused keys or values, broken links, or unnecessary configuration details. The software will then remove duplicate values or unused keys, re-establish links, and perform other optimization tasks. Some types of registry software also include a virus scanner that checks the registry for values entered by a virus or worm. Since the registry is a vital part of the operating system, the software will also back up your current registry so that it can be easily restored should changes cause unexpected system problems.
Advanced users may need to interact directly with the Windows® registry to make custom changes to its entries or to browse its values for application development purposes. In its raw form, however, the register is incomprehensible. Windows® operating systems come bundled with registry software called “regedit.exe” which allows the user to easily navigate through registry hives and make changes to individual entries. The data is arranged hierarchically. Some registry browsers also protect critical registry entries to ensure that the user does not accidentally damage the database.
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