The Windows NT Registry is the repository for all hardware, software, and application configuration settings, andManaging the Windows NT Registryis the system administrator's guide to maintaining, monitoring, and updating the Registry database. The book addresses four main areas:

• What is the Registry? Where does it live on disk? How do system services access and use it? What do you do if it's damaged or corrupted? Every NT administrator faces questions like this, often in a desperate attempt to fix something that's broken.
• What tools are available? Detailed descriptions of Regedit, RegEdt32, the System Policy Editor, and selected Resource Kit utilities explain how to edit and secure the Registry both on local and on remote computers.
• How can I access the Registry from a program? Regularly monitoring the Registry's contents is one way to preclude unpleasant surprises. Using examples in C++, Visual Basic, and Perl,Managing the WIndows NT Registrydemonstrates how to create Registry-aware tools and scripts.
• What's in the Registry? Not all Registry keys are adequately documented by Microsoft or by the other vendors who store configuration data in the Registry.Managing the Windows NT Registryoffers a guided tour of some of these undocumented keys; in addition, the associated Web site provides a "living database" of Registry keys that readers can search (and contribute to). This book is a "must have" for every NT system manager or administrator.