Part I: Registry Overview

Part I
Registry Overview

Working with the registry is daunting if you know little about it. Thus, in Part I, you master the basic information you need to successfully leverage the registry. For example, you learn about the contents of the registry and the types of data that you find in it. You also learn how to back up and restore the registry and how to edit the registry using Registry Editor.

Part I is for information technology (IT) professionals and power users. Aside from teaching the basics, such as how to back up the registry, it describes how to configure settings in the registry to customize Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Server 2003. Many of the settings you learn about in this part aren't available through the user interface. This part also describes one of the most popular downloads on the Internet: Tweak UI. Instead of showing you how to use this simple program, however, it describes where the program stores each of its settings in the registry.

Don't skip Part I; read it from beginning to end. With the basics mastered, and a sense of what you can do with the registry, you'll be better prepared to tackle the rest of this book.