Windows 8 In Depth

How the Registry Is Organized

The Registry is organized a lot like the files and folders on a hard disk. Just as a hard disk can contain partitions, the Registry contains separate sections called top-level keys. In each section is a list of named entries, called keys, which correspond to the folders on a hard disk. And just as a folder can contain files and more nested folders, a Registry key can contain values, which hold information such as numbers or text strings, and more nested keys. Even the way that file folders and Registry keys are described is similar: a folder might be named \Users\brian\chapter29, and a Registry key might be named \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. You can see this structure in Figure 29.1. Control Panel and ...