windows registry It’s like the brain of the computer. It stores information such as congiguration settigns and options for the OS. All the registry data are stored in Registry Editor.

components

• Hives: The root folders of the Registry.

• Keys: Like folders in a file system; they can contain subkeys or values.

• Values: Like individual files; they contain the actual data (settings).

Hive Name	Abbreviation	What it Stores
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT	HKCR	File associations (which app opens a .pdf?) and OLE data.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER	HKCU	Settings for the currently logged-in user (wallpaper, desktop icons).
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE	HKLM	Settings for the entire computer (drivers, boot settings, installed software).
HKEY_USERS	HKU	Profiles for all users who have ever logged into the machine.
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG	HKCC	Information about the hardware profile currently in use.