Editing Windows Registry (section)

== Rationale ==
Prior to the Windows Registry, .[[INI file]]s stored each program's settings as a [[text file]] or [[binary file]], often located in a shared location that did not provide user-specific settings in a multi-user scenario. By contrast, the Windows Registry stores all application settings in one logical repository (but also in a number of discrete files) and in a standardized form. According to [[Microsoft]], this offers several advantages over .INI files.<ref name="SystemRegistry" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/win95/rk31_arc.mspx?mfr=true|title=Windows 95 Architecture Components|website=www.microsoft.com|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207122429/http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/win95/rk31_arc.mspx?mfr=true|archive-date=2008-02-07|url-status=dead|access-date=2008-04-29|quote=The following table shows other difficulties or limitations caused by using .INI files that are overcome by using the Registry.}}</ref> Since file parsing is done much more efficiently with a binary format, it may be read from or written to more quickly than a text INI file. Furthermore, [[Strong typing|strongly typed data]] can be stored in the registry, as opposed to the text information stored in .INI files. This is a benefit when editing keys manually using <code>regedit.exe</code>, the built-in Windows Registry Editor. Because user-based registry settings are loaded from a user-specific path rather than from a read-only system location, the registry allows multiple users to share the same machine, and also allows programs to work for less privileged users. Backup and restoration is also simplified as the registry can be accessed over a network connection for remote management/support, including from scripts, using the standard set of [[API]]s, as long as the Remote Registry [[Windows service|service]] is running and firewall rules permit this.

Because the registry is a database, it offers improved system integrity with features such as [[atomic update]]s. If two processes attempt to update the same registry value at the same time, one process's change will precede the other's and the overall consistency of the data will be maintained. Where changes are made to .INI files, such [[race condition]]s can result in inconsistent data that does not match either attempted update. Windows Vista and later operating systems provide transactional updates to the registry by means of the [[Kernel Transaction Manager]], extending the atomicity guarantees across multiple key or value changes with traditional commit–abort semantics. (Note however that [[NTFS]] provides such support for the file system as well, so the same guarantees could, in theory, be obtained with traditional configuration files.)