Application Error

Your computer is a complex beast, with multiple systems running side by side, coordinated by the operating system. Most of us use a version of Microsoft’s Windows, which keeps track of all the settings required for the smooth operation of a healthy PC in its registry.

In the normal course of things, an average PC user will rarely be aware of the registry. When you’ve just installed new software, you may have seen a message flash onto your screen: “updating registry, please wait”. That is about as much as you want to know: on a healthy PC the registry should work quietly in the background.

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The registry is a database lying at the heart of all Windows operating systems where all settings and options for the computer hardware, operating system and application software are stored. Per-user settings are also stored in the registry. The registry hence provides a centralized computer configuration repository, and its performance is crucial to having a responsive and reliable personal computer.

Each time an installer for an application program is executed, additions are made to the Windows registry. This can result in increased memory overhead both when the PC boots at start up and also in operational use, causing the dreaded PC slow downs as time passes and the user installs more and more application software.

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The Windows registry is a database file that stores software and hardware configuration settings of the system and is a core file for the operating system, without which, it wouldn’t work. More technically and in short, it is a collection of ‘keys’ and ‘values’ stored in a ‘hive’. Registry keys are similar to file folders that contain further sub-folders and values. Registry values are the actual data references.

With use, the registry gets cluttered fast and this deteriorates the system’s performance, increasing the frequency of system errors. This is called fragmentation. A skilled user can manually edit and streamline the registry by using a Windows built in program called Registry Editor (regedit). Incorrect adjustments of registry values will result in errors associated with the running of the edited application values.

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