The most
useful of these branches, Software, contains a branch for almost every
application installed on your computer, arranged by manufacturer. Here
and in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE (discussed later) can be found all of
your application settings. As though Windows was just another application
on your system, you??™ll find most user-specific Windows settings in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
This branch contains information about all of the hardware and software
installed on your computer that isn??™t specific to the currently
logged-in user. The settings in this branch are the same for all users on
your system.
* A symbolic link is different from a Windows shortcut you??™d find on your hard disk. Information
in a linked branch appears twice and can be accessed at two different locations, even though it??™s
stored only once. This means that Find may stop in both places if they contain something you??™re
looking for and, as you might expect, changes in one place will be immediately reflected in the
mirrored location.
88 | Chapter 3: The Registry
The sub-branch of most interest here is the SOFTWARE branch, which contains
all of the information specific to the applications installed on your
computer. Both this branch and the aforementioned HKEY_CURRENT_USER\
Software branch are used to store application-specific information.
Those settings that are specific to each user (even if your computer has
only one user), such as toolbar configurations, are stored in the aforementioned
HKEY_CURRENT_USER branch; those settings that are not userdependent,
such as installation folders and lists of installed components,
are stored in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE branch.
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