Customer Reviews

Windows 2000 Registry (Information Technologies Master Series)

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As the Windows operating system has become more and more complex and those old easy to modify ini files have been replaced with the registry and its much more complex structure anyone who needs to tweak the Registry need a good book to study just how the Registry works. This book offers a very good overview of the Registry.
The book covers common problems, common fixes, how to back it up (very important since a corrupted registry may cause your computer to not be able to start at all), how to restore it and how to backup and restore just certain branches of the registry. Making changes to the registry is not for the faint-hearted. Deleting a wrong key, changing the wrong key, or any other change can create havoc for your computer. The book describes things in sufficient detail to allow you to make changes with confidence and knowing that you can get back to the original registry if something goes wrong.
I wish it had more information on how one could identify programs that a particular key is related to. Why? Because it is still very, very unusual to find a program that completely removes itself from the registry when you uninstall the program. These dead parts of the registry make it larger and larger and cause your computer to boot slower and slower and also create more and more places where there may be software conflicts or other items that cause your computer to crash. In the authors defense I have not been able to find any computer books that cover this topic in any significant manner. So, it is still click and guess if you want to remove all the threads of a program in the registry.
All in all, this is still an excellent book on the registry and a good choice for a computer technician, or the courageous novice, to have on their bookshelf.

Windows 2000 Registry answers the most often asked questions relating to the Windows 2000 operating system by novice users. Key features include a concise overview of the Windows 2000 Registry structure, valid data types, and data storage methods. A complete chapter is dedicated to securing and protecting the Registry while avoiding conflicts that create difficulties in completing everyday tasks. There are step-by-step instructions dedicated to the various methods of backing up and restoring the Registry database. Windows 2000 Registry defines the interface of the Registry keys, editors, and utilities for novice users while examining and explaining multiple Registry configurations and network settings (including instructions for fine-tuning the Registry). The Windows 2000 Registry boot process is described in detail while tips and techniques for eliminating boot failures are revealed. There are even descriptions of popular third-party tools for editing the Registry and a complete listing of additional Windows 2000 Registry information sources. Well written, nicely laid out, and highly recommended.

Don't buy this book! If you're seriously looking at being able to find out about all of the registry line items available in Windows 2000 this isn't the book. The book is rated intermidiate to advanced. What?!?! It's a beginners book. I expect a book that is advertised at such levels to be like "Windows NT 4.0 Registery: A Professional Reference". Now that's a registry book!