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The Windows registry is the database used by all the Windows operating systems like Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, and XP to keep track of the settings for the operating system and all installed programs. Windows 3.1 also has a registry, but it's less important to the functioning of the operating system than in the more recent versions of Windows.
Registry structure:
The registry is grouped in a hierarchical structure of sub-trees and sub-keys, and entries.
The registry contents of one computer may differ from that of another, depending on the services, devices, and programs installed on each computer.
A hive is a discrete body of keys, subkeys, and values that is rooted at the top of the registry hierarchy. While most information in the registry is stored on disk and is considered permanent, some information, stored in volatile keys, is overwritten each time the operating system starts.
