Was The Windows Registry A Good Idea?
With the advent of Windows 3.1, a bare-bones version of this demand was met with a central database common to all the applications and system called the Windows Registry. The Windows Registry is really the heart of the way Windows works.
Windows Registry
Whenever a user logs in, Windows uses a series of hash algorithms to calculate a hash for the password that has been entered. If the entered password’s hash is equal to the password hash inside the SAM registry file, users will be allowed to access their account. This also a file that most of the hackers target while performing an attack. A certain portion of these registry keys gets stored in the hard disk.
Windows is the only operating system that uses this approach of a central registry. If we were to visualize, every part of the operating https://wikidll.com/microsoft/msvcp100-dll system has to interact with the Windows Registry right from the booting sequence to the renaming of a file name.
- Because the scheduled task was written to the registry using transacted registry operations, a copy of the data is available in the transactional registry transaction log.
- The data can remain in the log well after the scheduled task has been removed from the system.
- We also compared program output to popular registry forensic tools.
- Although our program produced much of the same output, it was evident that existing registry forensic tools were able to recover more data.
- This likely occurs when cells are reused multiple times resulting in references that could appear valid if not carefully scrutinized.
It is the only operating system that uses this approach of a central registry. If we were to visualize, every part of the operating system has to interact with the Windows Registry right from the booting sequence to something as simple as renaming the file’s name. Windows Registry is a collection of configurations, values, and properties of windows applications as well as the windows operating system which is organized and stored in a hierarchical manner in a singular repository. To use this option, press F8 during startup and then select Last Known Good Configuration from the menu that appears. You can also back up the Registry files to the systemroot\repair directory by using the Windows Backup program, or you can save them to tape during a normal backup.
Multi-User scenarios are very common in enterprise setups, here, there is a strong need for user privilege access. Since not all the information or resources can be shared with everyone, the need for privacy-based user access was easily implemented through the centralized windows registry. Here the network administrator reserves the right to withhold or allow based on the work undertaken. This made the singular database versatile as well made it robust since the updates can be undertaken simultaneously with remote access to all of the registries of multiple devices in the network. Windows registry excels in these scenarios where the application configuration is shared among various users.
These keys that are stored in the hard disk are called hives. This section of the registry contains registry keys, registry subkeys, and registry values. Depending on the level of the privilege a user has been granted, he would be to access certain parts of these keys. If you knowingly or accidentally delete something in the Windows Registry then it could alter your system’s configuration which could either lead to Blue Screen of Death or Windows won’t boot.
