Windows 95 uses the registry to manage all hardware and software settings. The Registry provides a unified database and stores system and application configuration data in a hierarchical form. Each time the computer is started, a registry is formed. Its content is composed of plug-and-play events, machine settings files () and user information () and in some cases the system policies imposed by the network file server. It is a database file that stores computer configuration information. It replaces the use of INI files of all components and applications of the original system. It is actually a management information database of the Windows 95 system. At present, all system management in Windows 95 is ultimately achieved through the setting of registry keys. Because there are many registry entries and poor readability of information, once modified incorrectly, the system may not be started, so it is generally not recommended that users directly modify the registry.
However, for advanced users who are familiar with registry key settings, if the purpose is not achieved by using the control panel and policy files, they can only adopt this most direct and comprehensive method of processing. The specific usage method is to copy the Regedit.exe (registry editor) file in the Windows 95 installation CD-ROM to the local hard disk to run, remove the registry read-only method, modify the system registry key, and save the disk and exit after completion. The next time the system starts, the new settings will take effect.
Easy way to indirectly modify the registry
If you don't know much about the registry, don't use the registry editor to edit the registry directly. You can use a "gentle" method - indirectly modifying the registry, that is, adding table entries to the registry, which can be done by registry text file (.reg).
The command string "REGEDIT" must be used in the first line of the registry text file, which is used to notify the system call regedit to complete the merge of the registration information. Each next line represents a declaration of a key value or is annotative explanation information.
The declaration format of the primary key and its default key value is:
Root key\first primary key\second primary key\...=Default key value
For example, if you want to add a "compressed" primary key under the "*" primary key of the root key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, in order to directly compress the selected file through the context menu, the declaration of its primary key is as follows:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\＊\shell\Compression (&U)\command = C:\dos\ a Temp＄%1 Where "shell" and "command" are both fixed and cannot be changed or replaced. "shell" indicates that the command will be added to the context menu, and "command" indicates the specific command line information. Also note that in the key-value string on the right side of the equal sign, if you want to specify the path of the file, the "\" character should be replaced by "\\" and a space that separates the equal sign should be added before and after the equal sign.
Any line starting with a semicolon is an explanatory information line. Users can use the explanatory line to give necessary annotations to the commands in the file to make the commands easy to understand.
Using any editor, editing generates a list of primary key declaration lines and descriptive lines, and saves the file as a text file with the extension ".reg", that is, a registry text file is created.
How to back up the registry
Many installers (or you deal with it directly by yourself) may mess up your system's registry, causing unexpected events, so we should back up user. dat and files regularly. However, the current resource manager (or DOS) cannot directly copy these two files, so we'd better use specialized tools:
There is a program in the Windows 95 CD-ROM installation disk that can make 9 backups of the registry:. When using it, you need to first copy the file from the \Other\Msic\Cfgback folder of the CD-ROM to c:\Windows, and then copy the Cfgb file to c:\Windows\help. When you want to make a backup, just double-click and follow the detailed instructions it has proposed.