This month we stoop to discuss the Windows 95 Registry. Stoop, because you can’t get much further down in the mire of the Operating System than the Registry.

Registries first appeared in Windows NT 3.1 as a good way around the slow INI files in Windows 3.x. that have to be read (parsed) by the system. The Registry is a set of binary files (ones and zeros) that are as native to a computer as double talk is to a politician.

While Win95 retains the INI files (backwards compatiblity, remember?) it does store MOST of its critical information in the Registry. The file SYSTEM.DAT stores configuration info. based on what hardware and software is installed, and the USER.DAT stores data about the desktop, icons, colors, etc. Each time the OS successfully boots, the .DAT files have backups made named .DA0. While Registries are FAST, they are also vulnerable to corruption. One character out of place in an INI file probably won’t keep you from booting. A flipped bit in a Registry can be deadly.

To protect yourself, be sure to do a COMPLETE system backup once a month. That is for the lazy. The data paranoid should be doing weekly and incremental backups nightly.

I suppose the first thing everyone will want to do is to rush out and look at their Registry. Its in the /Windows directory, but is hidden. In Explorer, go to View, Options, and choose Show All Files. That will allow you to see the files. If you want to see into the file, click START, Run…, type REGEDIT and hit enter. This will bring you into the Registry editor. WARNING: Many computer magazines are publishing Registry hacks claiming additional functionality. I describe hacking the Registry as "doing brain surgery on yourself with a spoon…while running down the street." If you are the type to take out your own appendix, go ahead. But if you botch it, your OS will be as dead as Julius Caesar. Is your data worth it? Recommendation: Back it up, but don’t fiddle with it.

Next month, I’ll discuss drive compression and how you can use it reliably.

Peace,

Webwalker