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The Registry is a database used to store settings and options for the 32 bit versions of Microsoft Windows including Windows Vista, 95, 98, ME and NT/2000. It contains information and settings for all the hardware, software, users, and preferences of the PC. Whenever a user makes changes to a Control Panel settings, or File Associations, System Policies, or installed software, the changes are reflected and stored in the Windows Registry.

The physical files that make up the registry are stored differently depending on your version of Windows; under Windows 95 & 98 it is contained in two hidden files in your Windows directory, called USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT, for Windows Me there is an additional CLASSES.DAT file, while under Windows NT/2000 the files are contained seperately in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Config directory. You can not edit these files directly, you must use a tool commonly known as a "regedit" to make any changes (using registry editors will be discussed later in the article).

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WinUtilities All-in-One Cleaning and Optimization Suite
WinUtilities suite is an award winning collection of tools to optimize and speedup your system performance. this suite contains utilities to clean registry, temporary files on your disks, erase your application and internet browser history, cache and cookies. you can control startup programs that load automatically with windows, find duplicate files, fix broken shortcuts and uninstall unneeded software. other features include secure file deletion, recycle bin shredding, and cleaning tasks scheduling.

WinUtilities Registry Cleaner
With WinUtilities Registry Cleaner for Windows you can safely clean and repair Windows registry problems with a few simple mouse clicks! Fix problems with the Windows registry that are a common cause of Windows crashes and error messages.

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