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Hey all,

I'm trying to find a good book that is a good general guide to the Windows registry. I'm not looking for an advanced book (even though I know it will be whether I like it or not). What I want is a book that explains the makeup of the Windows registry. It doesn't necessarily need to be a book, a good website would be nice too. I would like to have a book laying around as a reference though.

I want to understand basically just how it works, what all the paths are for, a listing of important common paths/keys, how entries end up in the registry, etc. I just want to be able to navigate around the registry and not feel completely dumb.

Thanks

You might search thru the "Absolute Beginners Guide To" series by QUE Press or the "For Dummies" series. Or look for MS Press Windows XP Registry Guide by Jerry Honeycutt. I bought a copy before I retired and found it interesting reading. Wish I could help with the web site part but all of my tech info sites are on the business machine and that stayed with the shop and new owner...


LC

One interesting and semi fun way of understanding the registry is to start with a clean, barebones install of XP/Vista/Whatever and open up regedit. Then you export the entire registry into a text file...save it as c:\reg1.txt. Then, install something, or change a setting, or just in general change something. Then open regedit once more and export the registry to another text file...named c:\reg2.txt. Once you have both files, open up cmd.exe and type in 'fc "c:\reg1.txt" "c:\reg2.txt"'

What this will do is compare the two text files for differences. It will show you what has changed in your registry. For more info on the FC command you can always type in FC /? for switches and options for the command.

Maybe that's what I should be asking instead How did everyone else learn about the Windows registry? I know the obvious basics like the purpose of each of the hives, safety precautions, and how to delete keys/values, and that's about it.

It seems like the registry is so convoluted that there is no real general way to go about understanding it.

Most by trial and error Friend Wadd. Backing up the Registry before making changes and keeping good sources to go to when I have a question about the best way to fix a mistake.


LC

This is called the blind leading the blind...

Some webpage tutorials:

Windows registry information for advanced users

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...ptember16.mspx

Windows Registry Tutorial - PC Tools Article

Books:

With this link to Amazon you can look at an exerpt from the books to get a better feel if it's what you are looking for.
Amazon.com: Windows registry: Books

Hope this helps...

This site used to be called Windows Registry Guide - Registry tweaks and fixes for Windows systems

PC Tools Guides for Windows