Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE)

Network Operating
Systems
(CST-365)
Department:- Computer Science &
Engineering
Tanya Gupta
Unit -2
Chapter 2.4
Lecture 26

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Contents
• Introduction
• Purpose
• Location
• Accessing the Windows Registry
• Structure of the Windows Registry
• How Problems with the Registry can Occur
• How do the Registry Problems Affect Your System
• Why do you need a Registry cleaner
•  Benefits of Using a Registry Cleaner

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Introduction
• Whenever a user installs a software program/application, a
hardware or a device driver for a newly connected
hardware in a Windows based computer system, the initial
configuration settings of these are stored as keys and
values in a system defined, central hierarchical database
repository called Windows Registry.
• During the usage of the software or the hardware, the
changes made to these configurations are updated in the
registry.
• Also, the changes made to Control Panel settings, file
associations, Windows components and so on, during the
use of the computer, are updated in the registry.

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Contd..
• The software and the system components retrieve their latest
configuration from the registry during their run-time to
continue their operation as per the settings made by the
current user.
• The registry also serves as an index to the operation of the
kernel, revealing run-time information of the system.
• Registry is a critical factor for stability, reliability and
performance of a computer. Most of the computer problems
are caused by system registry errors.
• Invalid registry keys left as traces by applications that are no
more used or uninstalled from the computer, and so on, may
cause troubles including degradation in system performance in
terms of operating speed, reliability etc., crashes, stalls and so
on.

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Purpose
•  The Windows Registry serves as an archive for
collecting and storing the configuration settings of
Windows components, installed
hardware/software/application and more.
• A Windows component, hardware or a software,
retrieves the registry entries or keys relating to it,
every time it is started.
• It also modifies the registry entries or keys
corresponding to it, in its course of execution.
• When keys are added to the registry, the data are
sorted as computer-specific data or user-specific data
in order to support multiple users.

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Location
• In Windows NT based operating systems like Windows XP, 2000, and 2003,
the Registry files are stored in the WindowsSystem32Config folder. These
files are named:
• ·        Software;
• ·        System;
• ·        SAM;
• ·        Security;
• ·        Default; and
• ·        UserDiff.
• These files do not have a file extension. The information contained in these
files are explained later.
• Apart from this, in the Documents and Settings folder corresponding to each
user of the system, one more Registry file named NTuser.dat is stored. The
NTuser.dat file stores all the preferences/settings specific to the user. These
settings will override settings default settings of the system when the user
logs-in.

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Accessing the Windows Registry

• You can view the registry files by running
the regedit command.
 
• To view the registry files
• 1.   Click Start > Run...
• 2.   Type regedit in the Open: box.
• 3.   Click OK.

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Structure of the Windows Registry

• The Windows Registry has a structure similar to Windows folders
and files. Each main folder is named as a Hive. Each hive contains
sub folders called Keys. These keys contain subkeys with
configuration values for each software program/system
component of the computer. There are five main Hives, whose
descriptions are listed below:

• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT - The software settings about the file

system, shortcut information, information on file associations and
other user interface information are stored in this hive. The file
association information are essentially used by Windows to
invoke the correct program when a file is opened using Windows
Explorer.

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Contd..
• HKEY_USERS – The configuration settings for each hardware and software
item in the computer system, corresponding to each of the users of the
computer system are stored in this hive. The information on the user's
folders, user's choices of themes, colors and Control Panel settings are
stored here as user's profile. This hive has a subkey for each user storing
his/her user's profile.

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER - The configuration settings for each hardware and

software item in the computer system, corresponding to the currently
logged-on user are stored in this hive. This hive is dynamic, i.e. whenever
a user logs-on into the system, the settings corresponding to the user are
retrieved from the respective subkey of H_KEY_USERS as user profile and
stored in this hive. If a currently active item modifies a registry entry in its
course of operation, the change will affect only the current user.

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Contd..
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE - The configuration settings
for hardware and software for all users of the
computer are stored in this hive. The information
stored here is computer specific and not user
specific.

• HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG - The current hardware

configuration settings, pointing to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINEConfig are stored in this
hive. This hive is dynamic, meaning it is built on the
run.

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• The files in the WindowsSystem32Config folder and

their associations with the hives are shown below.

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How Problems with the Registry can Occur

• The Windows Registry keeps accumulating a large
number of unwanted, obsolete, and incorrect data
which are mostly left by uninstalled programs. The
most common reasons for accumulation of the junk
entries are:

• Installing and uninstalling software programs,

particularly video, audio, photo, graphics and games
softwares frequently;

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• Browsing through Internet sites that automatically install

components like Active X and accessing unsolicited mails
with malicious attachments;
• ·        Adding too many programs into the system;
• ·        Altering Control Panel settings frequently;
• ·        Altering hardware, hard disk, memory, joysticks,
monitor, printer or scanner frequently;
• ·        Installing programs with embedded spyware;
• ·        Viruses, Trojan horses and key loggers and so on;
• ·        The accumulation of too many of junk entries over
time increases the size of the registry and makes it
fragmented and corrupted.

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How do the Registry Problems Affect Your System

• The Windows registry which is increased in size due
to accumulation of junk entries, fragmented and
corrupted due to the traces left by improperly
uninstalled programs leads to:
• Degradation in performance of the computer
system. The operating speed of the system will be
notably reduced, as each active process/application
takes a longer time to refer to registry and
acquire/modify its registry entry. The time-out
problem also leads to frequent program error
messages;

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Contd..
• Reduction in reliability. The active
process/application may not be able to reach its
respective registry entry due to fragmentation of
registry of increased size, resulting in unexpected
termination of the programs. This makes the user to
lose any unsaved data;
• Reduction in stability. The fragmented, slow registry
takes a long time to fulfill requests sent to it by the
active programs and hardware devices and causes
system freezes and rebooting;
• System crash. Excessive damage to the Registry can
even make the system unbootable.
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Why do you need a Registry cleaner

• When you notice a reduction in the operating speed of your computer,
repeated freezes or taking a longtime to startup, you can take the
indication as starting of degradation of your registry.
• Your registry needs a clean-up, meaning that the obsolete, unwanted
and invalid entries must be identified from your registry and to be
deleted.
• You can manually edit your registry and fix these problems yourself, if
you’re a computer expert.
• As a word of caution, performing a registry cleanup using the Registry
Editor is not so easy and safe.
• The probability of unknowingly altering or deleting a registry entry,
vital for the healthy operation of your system, is incomparably higher
than that of deleting the entry to be actually deleted.
• Your system may be irreparably damaged.

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• It is always recommended to use a Registry cleaner

software regularly to tidy up your systems registry.
• A registry cleaner scans your registry and detects the
unwanted entries to be removed.
• It deletes the unwanted entries only after your
confirmation and leaves the vital registry entries intact.
• This ensures that you can restore your systems health
and performance within a few mouse clicks without the
fear of damaging your system.
• There are no chances for removing any vital entries
and hence is safe.

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Benefits of Using a Registry Cleaner

• The registry cleaner software not only scans your
systems registry for detecting and cleaning any
unwanted registry entries but also defragments your
systems registry, making it compact and leaving some
available free space in your hard drive.
• The active processes/applications are enabled to
seamlessly access their corresponding registry entries,
both for acquisition of the configuration settings and
to alter them in the course of their execution.
• The operating speed of the system increases and the
system is restored to its highest level of performance.
The annoying error messages can be avoided.      

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• The active processes/applications can reach their

corresponding registry quickly and without fail avoiding
unexpected termination of programs.
• The users need not lose any unsaved data and system is
rendered reliable.
• The clean, compact and fast registry can cater to the
requests sent to it by the active programs and hardware
devices promptly, avoiding system freezes and rebooting.
This adds up to the stability of the system.
• The newly installed software programs can easily create
registry entries and store their configuration settings in a
clean registry.

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• Prevention is better than cure. Instead of waiting for your Registry to

build up debris and cleaning it, regular cleaning of it at a set
frequency maintains the health of the system consistently.
• The Registry cleaner software offer scheduling facility, wherein you
can set scheduled scans and clean your registry.
• Even if you forget to start registry cleaning, the registry cleaner
automatically runs a scan and cleans your registry at scheduled
times.
• Regular cleaning of your registry does not give a room for registry
damage and your system is totally protected from system crash.
• The registry cleaner software also backs-up your systems registry
before performing every clean-up, providing you with an option of
reverting your system to an early stage, in case you need do it.

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• Apart from cleaning your registry, some Registry cleaner

software also aid in optimizing your systems performance. One
of the reasons for slow start-up and reduction in your systems
operating speed other than the registry problems, is number of
start-up programs.
• Even though, there are certain startup programs which are
essential for your computer to function, there are some that are
usually configured to load at startup when you install those
applications.
• These programs are usually not required until you actually use
the application they belong to, and the rest of the time they run
in the background unnecessarily, consuming system resources.
• You can use msconfig command to select the programs to be
loaded during start-up, but again, it is not easy and safe.

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References
• Text Books:
• 1. Operating system principles, 7th edition by Abraham Silberschatz, Peter
Baer Galvin, Greg Gagne
• 2. Operating Systems Design and Implementation (Prentice Hall Software
Series), Andrew S Tanenbaum, Albert S Woodhull
• 3. Mastering Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2, Mark Minasi, Darril
Gibson, Aidan Finn, Wendy Henry, Byron Hynes

• Reference Books:
• 1. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/
windows-server-eos-faq/end-of-support-windows-server-2008-
2008r2#:~:text=More%20information%20%20%20%20Product
%20%20,%20%204%2F14%2F2020%20%2016%20more%20rows%20
• 2. https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=11093

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THANK YOU

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