What's a Registry?

By definition it's a place where records are kept. It first appeared in Windows 95. It is a database where settings and options for 32-bit versions of Microsoft Windows (95,98) are stored. For example, when you install software like MS Word, notations are made in the Registry where the code is located. Should you later run the MS uninstall program it goes to the Registry to determine where the various files of the program, such as drivers, etc., are located and deletes them. Should you try deleting the files without using the uninstall program you could easily miss files and get error messages and end up with useless files scattered throughout your PC as well as a bloated Registry. Unfortunately, all software, and especially older DOS and Windows 3.x programs, were not designed to be available to the uninstall program that one accesses at Start/Settings/Control Panel/Add Remove Programs.

Where is the Registry and should I mess with it?

The physical files that make up Windows 95 & 98 Registries are stored in two hidden files in your Windows folder called USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT. The only way you can edit these files short of changing their hidden attributes is to use a program called REGEDIT.EXE that may be run by going to Start/Run and typing regedit. One is cautioned, however, never to edit the Registry unless you know what you're doing otherwise your PC could be made inoperable. On the other hand, should you have explicit instructions, say perhaps from http://www.symantec.com stating how to delete a virus by editing your Registry, carefully follow the instructions and proceed ahead. It's always a good idea to first read the Help instructions available at REGEDIT.

Backing up and restoring the Registry

Windows 98 comes with a Registry Checker that can be run from either the DOS prompt or in Windows by going to Start/Run and typing "scanreg." This utility scans your Registry and looks for old, out-dated or corrupt Registry entries. Once the scan is done, Registry Checker will automatically backup your Registry. Windows 95 includes a utility called cfgback.exe on it's CD ROM that lets one create numerous backup copies of the Registry but since it's not installed as a default program one must go to the Other\Misc\Cfgback directory on the Windows 95 CD ROM to get it.You can also run the scanreg program in Windows 98 by going to Start/Programs/Accessories /System Tools/System Information and clicking on Tools and Registry Checker. While there, you might as well run the System File Checker that will correct any errors in your system files. There's more info on scanreg /fix and scanreg /restore options used in DOS mode at http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q183/8/87.ASP. For example scanreg/restore will let you restore your Registry to a backup made for any of the past 5 days. You may even change the default 5 to a longer period by going to scanreg.ini and changing MAXBACKUPCOPIES = 5 but this will have to be done before the Registry is corrupted, not afterwards.

Cleaning your Registry

Another good utility provided by Microsoft for cleaning out old data from the Registry is called RegClean. Since it doesn't come with Windows you'll have to download it from http://download.microsoft.com/download. After clicking on "keyword search" and entering "regclean.exe" for either Windows 95 or 98, download the file regclean. Running regclean analyzes your Registry and finds keys that contain erroneous values. After recording bad entries in the Undo.Reg file, it removes them from the Registry.

Don't be a fraidy cat

In summary all we're saying here is that while your Registry is a critical part of your PC you don't have to be a guru to access it. There's no reason why you shouldn't run regedit to see what's in the Registry and even make changes that are suggested by reliable sources. Also you should run scanregand regclean every now and then, particularly when your PC starts getting quirky.