Good resources to learn about the Windows registry

Question

Can you recommend any introductory material about the Windows registry?

Answer 1

You could start by reading the Microsoft KnowledgeBase article: Windows registry information for advanced users.

You can find a simple introduction here: Introduction to the Registry.

And last, but not least, the Wikipedia article about the Windows Registry, which covers pretty every aspect.

Answer 2

I think the Microsoft Windows Registry Guide (Second Edition) covers the concepts pretty well.

Answer 3

Although it may seem like I might as well be recommending a tome on Ancient History I found Inside the Registry for Windows 95 to be really informative when I needed to get a fundamental grasp of what the registry was about. The basics of how and why the registry exists are there in this book (available cheap second hand).

You could use it as a base and then move on to newer xp, vista specific resources.

Answer 4

A couple more valuable resources are:

Windows 2003 registry reference: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc778196.aspx

Windows 2000 Registry reference: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/default.mspx