How is data stored in the Windows registry?
The information is arranged in a strict hierarchy in the form of hives and keys. Hives are the larger units and they contain keys and subkeys. Keys and subkeys have values, which store the actual data for a particular registry entry. In a sense, the structure of the Windows registry is similar to the directory structure of your hard drive, which you can see in Windows Explorer. Hives start with HKEY and even though on different versions of Windows there are different hives, the following ones are among the most common: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT – This hive stores information about file association types, OLE information and all other kinds of registered data. HKEY_CURRENT_USER – This hive stores information about the currently logged in user. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE – This hive stores information about the hardware, software, and other settings on the machine, which are common to all users. HKEY_USERS – This hive stores user-specific information. There is a separate SID sub-key for each user. HKEY_
