Comments for Why does Windows have a registry?

Comment from senshikaze on 2009-08-28

2009-08-28T15:33:04Z

MichaelHorowitz: Linux has had the same deal since the begining. OS X, while good, is nothing new or special. It is just BSD with Apple's userland on top.

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A comment on: Why does Windows have a registry?

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Comment from joey on 2009-06-30

2009-06-30T21:33:16Z

Still think that linux has a way better organized file-system

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A comment on: Why does Windows have a registry?

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Comment from Mason Torrey on 2008-08-16

2008-08-16T16:14:27Z

I used to be a Windows fanatic - against anything Apple. But after actually sitting down with Mac OSX Leopard for a few days, I realized something - it'doesn't have a registry. It doesn't have the root cause of most (if not all) problems in windows. I'm sold. I now admit that Mac is better.
Installing a program in windows involves multiple files, registry entries, random files in random places not to mention the Install Shield entry. But with Mac, installing a program is "drag and drop the program file" and that's it. To uninstall, just delete the program file. No need to worry about losing registry entries and cluttering up the system with stray files.

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A comment on: Why does Windows have a registry?

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Comment from Michael Horowitz on 2007-08-30

2007-08-31T06:19:35Z

Windows has a registry because the people designing Windows years ago were inexperienced. Every experienced techie knows that simple = reliable and complex = not-reliable. Also, Windows is, in effect, a monopoly and thus Microsoft is under no pressure to fix their mistakes. Specifically:

OS information is not sufficiently segregated from application data in the registry.

At boot time, the registry is a single point of failure.

The registry is not backed up reliably. System Restore backs it up but SR is miserably designed. For example, it will turn itself off and not tell you under some conditions. And it has 99 rules for when it runs which no one can fully grasp (complexity again) thus it can go days and days between backups. And, SR breaks and by default wastes a huge amount of disk space.

There is no automatic failover to a backup copy of the registry.

Updating the registry is much harder and more dangerous than it should be.

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A comment on: Why does Windows have a registry?

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Comment from ta23 on 2007-08-27

2007-08-27T07:23:28Z

"exceptional complexity" is not a virtue. The concept of the "Windows Registry" is one of the largest mistakes ever made in the history of computing. One can only imagine that "they" had something else in mind: like trying to hide and control our ability to conform applications to our needs. Just how do we initiate applications when their control parameters have been ensconced in such an obscure and obtuse manner? It is a debacle. And I don't know why I put up with it. Linux has it's problems, I should consider buying a BSD McIntosh. How much crap can we all take before we rebel against "the system?" No relevant OS designer would promote the Registry form of application initiation. Lord, such a bad idea.

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A comment on: Why does Windows have a registry?

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Comment from Chris on 2007-08-21

2007-08-21T18:46:07Z

The registry (or parts of the registry) is something that needs to be backed up sep. in my book. If you are one to install large games/software in a sep. partition like I do (to make the windows partition backup smaller), the registry is what will tell windows the location of those partitioned apps/games.

Any windows reinstall or formatting of the windows partition will delete all traces, in the registry, of those partitioned items. The files will still be there, but to windows the files are useless. Windows does not remember them as a package of any installation, just data (much like a word or .txt document that hold no extra meaning); the items will not start or will be forced to recreate there registry items/locations (this can include CD Keys as well and further settings).

If those locations in the registry were to be backed up after there installation, one would only have to run the backup after a fresh install to add to the registry those locations once again. Windows will then recognize the settings and files as part of an installation and your set.

If something happens to your registry and you HAVE System Restore enabled, there is a chance of retrieving the earlier registry from a previous restore point. This data can be found in the "System Volume Information" hidden, system folder in the root of your windows partition.

It is recommended to run xcopy in Recovery Console to back up this folder before doing a reinstall. You will then be able to extract registry keys from those applications installed in separate partitions for recovery usage.

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A comment on: Why does Windows have a registry?

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