This Windows XP registry guide will help to explain what a registry is and what it does. The registry on Windows operating systems is quite probably the most important file on your computer. This is what makes your computer work and your computer is accessing the registry constantly while it is running.
Anyone that has been using a Windows based PC has heard of the Windows XP registry, but not everyone knows exactly what it is or what it does. Even people with decades of Windows experience are not really that clear on what the registry is and what it does.
Very few people are running on a 16 bit computer anymore, so we will cover Windows XP registry cleanup and how to restore Windows XP registry which are the 32 and 64 bit computers.
To start with lets cover what the registry is. The Windows registry is the file where your computer stores everything it knows. Your hard drive stores all the programs and data you download, but the Windows XP registry is that little place that is only for your computer to store information it needs.
It is very important to perform a Windows XP registry cleanup often to restore your Windows XP registry back to original condition. When you defrag your hard drive you are only fixing all the broken links and bad files on your portion of the drive. You need to download software to perform a Windows XP registry cleanup.
Over time, all those broken links in your registry grow and grow and eventually the file gets so big it takes time for your PC to figure out where to get the instructions it is looking for.
You really need to scan and restore your Windows XP registry often; some people even do it on a daily basis. Your registry is broken down into 5 sections and you will see them “passing by” as the scan is being performed.
1. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT: This block of data is the information about all the files, software, embedded objects and all other file associations.
2. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE: This block of data is the location for all the information on the hardware in your machine and also for all the different users of the machine (if any).
3. HKEY_CURRENT_USER: This one is pretty self explanatory, it is all the preferences of the current user.
4. HKEY_USERS: Very similar to the current user file.
5. HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG: This is all the information on the current session from the time the computer starts until it shuts down.
If you look at each of the 5 files above you will see that they are absolutely critical to a healthy and happy PC. Performing a Windows XP registry repair on a regular basis is the only way your computer can get inside the registry to remove all the files that point to every session of that online game you used to play or video you have ever downloaded.
Most Windows XP registry cleanup software is free to download online and only takes a few minutes to install. By the way to help you decide you can read our registry cleaner reviews of the top registry cleaners. The scan only takes a few minutes also, even if it is the first scan. This Windows XP registry guide will not only help you restore your Windows XP registry to recover your PC’s original speed, it will keep the little problems from turning into error messages and eventual failure.
