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The Windows 95 Registry

© Chris Cruickshank

This article is about the Windows 95 system registry — what it is, as well as ways of accessing it. It should be noted that when accessing the registry, it is important to take backups of the essential files (see below). The registry is one of the most important aspects of Windows 95.

What is the Registry for?

The registry is a central point where applications can store information about how they have been set up to work. Not only this, but an application can also check to see other window settings as Windows 95 itself stores all your settings (colour scheme, hardware set up, preferences to name a few) within the registry.

It is because the registry is used so much that applications can "talk" to one another far better than was previously possible. For example, if you have a scanner attached to your system, your graphics packages will know where to "acquire" the scanned image.

This makes the registry not only useful, but an area that is potentially under threat from "changing things around" — something we all do from time to time!

The registry itself is made up of two files: USER.DAT stores customisation of settings within applications, and REG.DAT stores the core settings within Windows 95 itself. Both files live in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder.

Fortunately, Windows automatically takes a backup of the registry files after every successful shutdown. However, if you are planning on viewing or amending the registry, you should always take your own copy.

For those of you who have used Windows 3.x, the registry replaces the .INI files that littered our hard disks.

Therefore, the registry is a central storage place for applications to leave data about how they are to function as well as a place where applications can look to find out essential information about our system.

To access the registry, Microsoft provides a special program called REGEDIT.EXE.

Using REGEDIT

First of all, never use another program to view the registry (such as Notepad) as this may corrupt the file. Only use REGEDIT or a program that has been written specifically to access the registry.

To run REGEDIT, click the Start button and select Run. When the dialog box appears, enter REGEDIT and click on OK. There is no need to supply a path for the file — Windows 95 will find it.

Once run, you are presented with a split screen. The left-hand portion shows a tree like structure of the registry whilst the right hand side of the screen shows the individual values stored.

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