Relationship between registry and Windows 98 File System

We will show you the details of the registry so that you can go deep into the system. First, let's take a look at the relationship between the Registry and the Windows 98 file system.

The Registry of Windows 98 consists of the following six files:
1. The Registry File System. dat configured by the System

In Windows 9x, the System directory c: \ windows contains an implicit, System, and read-only file System. dat, which is part of the Windows 98 registry and has the following functions:
1) describe a single PC configuration.
2) Describe messages installed on a single PC.
3) install plug-and-play device hardware configurations, such as the I/O address, IRQ level, and DMA channel of the device. This file is stored in a local workstation or local PC system when it is running on Windows 98. During Windows 98 installation, Setup will first check the hardware devices installed on your computer, and then create the appropriate configuration items in System. dat. From the existing Windows 3. if Windows 98 is upgraded and installed in x, Setup sets the existing System. ini, Reg. copy some settings in the dat file to System. dat to keep the system settings.

We often use the "System" icon on the "control panel" to modify the hardware devices and configurations of the System. At this time, all the operations we perform are System attribute settings read from System. dat. This file is similar to the System. ini file in Windows 3. x.
2. The Registry backup file System. da0 configured by the System

A very important feature of the Windows 98 registry is its high reliability and stability, which is not easy to be damaged. This requires the Registry's backup file system. da0.

The backup file of System. dat in the System Configuration registry is System. da0. When the System. dat file is accidentally damaged, the System automatically copies the file as System. dat at startup. This is very important for the unstable Windows 98 system. At least it provides an important stability mechanism for the system.
3. User. dat, the Registry File configured on the User platform

In the Windows 98 system directory c: \ windows, there is an implicit, system, read-only file User. dat, which is also an important part of the Windows 98 registry, this file has the role:
1) It defines the user priority, such as the user platform setting and running level.
2) The installation information and usage information of an application specific to a user. If you are using a LAN, when you are using a network in Windows 98, Us dat must be placed on the network server. For a single machine, the network attribute is saved in the system directory of the local machine.

When you enter the User name and password for the first time, the Windows 98 program will store the information in USER. dat, and your Windows 98 serial number is also stored in User. DAT. If you select the "user-defined preferences and desktop settings logon, Windows automatically enables personal Settings" option in the "password" icon on the "control panel, in Windows 98, a User is created for each User. dat, and save it as C: \ Windows \ Profiles \ User Name \ User. dat. After a User logs on, his User. dat is transferred to the system and the corresponding program information is started. This file is similar to the Windows 3.x system's Win. ini file.
4. User. da0, the Registry backup file configured on the User platform

The User. dat Registry File configured on the User platform also has a backup file User. da0. When User. dat is accidentally damaged, the system copies User. da0 as User. dat to restore User. dat.
5. Network Management registry file Config. pol

The Config. pol file is an implicit, system, and read-only file. It is mainly used for the management of network users in Windows 98.

If you have installed the system Policy Editor on Windows 98, you can use Config. the limits in the pol file determine the operating permissions of the System user, such as executing programs, modifying the registry, etc. the settings in the pol file impose some restrictions on the operations of network users, which are called "Policies" in Windows 98 ".
6. Network Management registry backup file Config. po0

Config. pol also has a backup file Config. po0, which is an implicit, system, and read-only file. It is stored in the network server. It is important to recover from config. pol corruption.
After reading the composition of Registry files, let's take a look at the relationship between Registry and INI files in Windows 98.
Registry has many similarities with the INI file in Windows 98. The key or sub-key in the registry is similar to the section in the INI file. A key-value item corresponds to a setting item in the section in the INI file.

However, we can easily find the differences between them: Registry can include sub-keys, while the INI file does not support the nesting of sections. Secondly, the key-value items in Registry can also contain executable code, setting items in the INI file is just a simple string. The third is that there are multiple users on the same computer. Registry can store the features of each user, but it is not possible in the INI file.

If your computer system is from Windows 3. x to Windows 98, the installer starts from System. ini and Win. in the INI file, select some system settings and place them in the registry. However, to be compatible with older 16-bit Windows applications, some settings in the INI file cannot be migrated to the Windows 98 registry.
1). Information about Win. ini in the Registry
All the subkeys related to Win. ini are in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER Root Key of the Registry. Under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER sub-key branch, you can see [desktop] GridGranularity Control Panel \ desktop; Pattern Control Panel \ desktop;
TileWallPaper Control Panel \ desktop;
[Windows] ScreenSaveActive Control Panel \ desktop; ScreenSaveTimeOut Control Panel \ desktop
[Sounds] Sound Event Name AppEvents \ Schemes \ Apps \. Default \ Sound Event Name \. current
[Hearts] Name Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Applets \ Hearts and other information in the Win. ini file
2). Information about System. ini in the Registry
The sub-keys related to System. ini are all in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Root Key of the Registry. According to the network configuration of the machine, some systems may not have Certain subkeys. We can open the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE directory branch to view the relevant information. For example
[Network]
Comment System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ VNETUP
ComputerName System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ ComputerName
EnableSharing
LMAnnounce System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ VNETUP
LogonDomain
Logon Validated
MaintainServerList System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ ComputerName
Reconnect
Reshare
Username Network \ Logon
Workgroup System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ ComputerName
[ENH] Network
Transport Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Network \ Real Mode Net
Here is a brief introduction of the relationship between the Registry and the Windows 98 file system and the INI file, which is helpful for us to have a deep understanding of Windows 98 and solve related problems.