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Managing the Registry Tip Restrict changes to global settings by using the Classes subkey If you don t want users to be able to set their own file associations, you could change the permissions on HKLMSOFTWAREClasses so users can t alter the global settings you want them to have. For more information about Registry permissions, see the section entitled Securing the Registry later in this chapter. Registry Data: How It Is Stored and Used Now that you know more about the Registry s structure, let s take a look at the actual data within the Registry. Understanding how Registry data is stored and used is just as important as understanding the Registry structure. Where Registry Data Comes From As mentioned previously, some Registry data is created dynamically at boot time and some is stored on disk so it can be used each time you boot a computer. The dynamically created data is volatile, meaning that when you shut down the system, it is gone. For example, as part of the boot process Ntdetect.com scans for system devices and uses the results to build the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINEHARDWARE subkey. The information stored in this key exists only in memory and isn t stored anywhere on disk. On the other hand, Registry data stored on disk is persistent. When you shut down a system, this Registry data remains on disk and is available the next time you boot the system. Some of this stored information is very important, especially when it comes to recovering from boot failure. For example, by using the information stored in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SYSTEMCurrentControlSet, you can boot using the Last Known Good configuration. If the Registry data was corrupted, however, this information might not be available and the only way to recover the system would be to try repairing the installation or reinstalling the operating system. To help safeguard the system and ensure that one section of bad data doesn t cause the whole Registry to fail to load, Windows Server 2003 has several built- in redundancies and fail safes. For starters, the Registry isn t written to a single file. Instead, it is written to a set of files called hives. There are six main types of hives, each representing a group of keys and values. Most of the hives are written to disk in the %SystemRoot%System32Config directory. Within this directory, you ll find these hive files: . .DEFAULT, which corresponds to the HKEY_USERS.DEFAULT subkey . SAM, which corresponds to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESAM subkey . SECURITY, which corresponds to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESECURITY subkey . SOFTWARE, which corresponds to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARE subkey . SYSTEM, which corresponds to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEM subkey Chapter 14 Part 4: Managing Windows Server 2003 Systems
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Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Inside Out Chapter 14 HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, abbreviated as HKCR, stores all file associations that tell the computer which document file types are associated with which applications, as well as which action to take for various tasks, such as open, edit, close, or play, based on a specified document type. For example, if you double-click a .doc file, the document typically is opened for editing in Microsoft Office Word. This file association is added to HKCR when you install Microsoft Office. If Microsoft Office isn t installed, a .doc file is opened instead in WordPad because of a default file association created when the operating system is installed. HKCR is built from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClasses and HKEY_ CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREClasses. The former provides computer-specific class registration, and the latter, user-specific class registration. Because the user-specific class registrations have precedence, this allows for different class registrations for each user of the machine. This is different from previous versions of the Windows operating system for which the same class registration information was provided for all users of a particular machine. HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG, abbreviated as HKCC, contains information about the hardware configuration with which you started the system, which is also referred to as the machine s boot configuration. This key contains information about the current device assignments, device drivers, and system services that were present at boot time. HKCC is built from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SYSTEMCurrentControlSetHardware ProfilesCurrent, which in turn is a pointer to a numbered subkey that contains the current hardware profile. If a system has multiple hardware profiles, the key points to a different hardware profile, depending on the boot state or the hardware profile selection made at startup. For example, portable computers typically have docked and undocked hardware profiles. If a portable computer were started using the docked profile, it would use one hardware configuration, and if it were started using the undocked profile, it would use another hardware configuration. HKEY_CURRENT_USER HKEY_CURRENT_USER, abbreviated as HKCU, contains information about the user currently logged on. This key has a pointer to HKEY_USERUserSID, where UserSID is the security identifier for the current user as well as for the default profile discussed previously. Microsoft requires that applications store user- specific preferences under this key. For example, Microsoft Office settings for individual users are stored under this key. Additionally, as discussed previously, HKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREClasses stores the user-specific settings for file associations. 422 Part 4: Managing Windows Server 2003 Systems
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Managing the Registry . Enum Contains the complete enumeration of devices found on the system when Ntdetect.com scans the system buses and searches for specific classes of devices. This represents the complete list of devices present at boot time. . Hardware Profiles Contains a subkey for each hardware profile available on the system. The first hardware profile, 0000, is an empty profile. The other numbered profiles, beginning with 0001, represent profiles that are available for use on the system. The profile named Current always points to the profile selected at boot time. . Services Contains a subkey for each service installed on the system. These subkeys store the necessary configuration information for their related services, which can include startup parameters as well as security and performance settings. Another interesting subkey is HKLMSYSTEMMountedDevices. This key is created by the Logical Volume Manager service and is used to store the list of mounted and available disk devices. Disk devices are listed according to logical volume configuration and drive letter designator. HKEY_USERS HKEY_USERS, abbreviated as HKU, contains user profile data for every user who has previously logged on to the computer locally, as well as a default user profile. Each user s profile is owned by that user unless you change permissions or move profiles. Profile settings include the user s desktop configuration, environment variables, folder options, menu options, printers, and network connections. User profiles are saved in subkeys of HKEY_USERS according to their security identifiers (SIDs). There is also a SecurityID_Classes subkey that represents file associations that are specific to a particular user. For example, if a user sets Adobe Photoshop as the default program for .jpeg and .jpg files and this is different from the system default, there are entries within this subkey that show this association. When you use Group Policy as discussed in Part 7, the policy settings are applied to the individual user profiles stored in this key. The default profile specifies how the machine behaves when no one is logged on and is also used as the base profile for new users who log on to the computer. For example, if you wanted to ensure that the computer used a password-protected screen saver when no one was logged on, you would modify the default profile accordingly. The subkey for the default user profile is easy to pick out because it is named HKEY_USERS.DEFAULT. Chapter 14 Note The profile information stored in HKU is loaded from the profile data stored on disk. The default location for profiles is %SystemDrive%Documents and SettingsUserName, where UserName is the user s pre Windows 2000 logon name. Part 4: Managing Windows Server 2003 Systems
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Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Inside Out HKLMSYSTEM HKLMSYSTEM stores information about device drivers, services, startup parameters, and other machine-wide settings. You ll find several important subkeys within HKLMSYSTEM. One of the most important is HKLMSYSTEMCurrentControlSet, as shown in Figure 14-4. Chapter 14 Figure 14-4. Accessing HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSet in the Registry. CurrentControlSet contains information about the set of controls and services used for the last successful boot of the system. This subkey always contains information on the set of controls actually in use and represents the most recent successful boot. The control set is written as the final part of the boot process so that the Registry is updated as appropriate to reflect which set of controls and services was last used for a successful boot. This is, in fact, how you can boot a system to the last known good configuration after it crashes or experiences a Stop error. HKLMSYSTEM also contains previously created control sets. These are saved under the subkeys named ControlSet001, ControlSet002, and so forth. Within the control sets, you ll find four important subkeys: . Control Contains control information about key operating system settings, tools, and subcomponents, including the HAL, keyboard layouts, system devices, interfaces, and device classes. Under BackupRestore, you ll find the saved settings for Backup, which include lists of Automated System Recovery (ASR) keys, files, and Registry settings not to restore. Under the SafeBoot subkey, you ll find the control sets used for minimal and network-only boots of the system. 420 Part 4: Managing Windows Server 2003 Systems
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Managing the Registry As Figure 14-3 shows, you ll find many important subkeys within HKLMSOFTWARE, including the following: . Classes Contains all file associations and OLE class identifiers. This is also the key from which HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT is built. . Clients Stores information about protocols and shells used by every client application installed on the system. This includes the calendar, contacts, mail, media, and news clients. . Microsoft Contains information about every Microsoft application and component installed on the system. This includes their complete configuration settings, defaults, registration information, and much more. You ll find most of the graphical user interface (GUI) preferences in HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion. You ll find the configuration settings for most system components, language packs, hot fixes, and more under HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersion. . ODBC Contains information about the Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) configuration on the system. It includes information about all ODBC drives and ODBC file Data Source Names (DSNs). . Policies Contains information about local policies for applications and components installed on the system. Chapter 14 Figure 14-3. Accessing HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARE in the Registry. 419 Part 4: Managing Windows Server 2003 Systems
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Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Inside Out By default, the information stored in HKLMSAM is inaccessible through Registry Editor. This is a security feature designed to help protect the security and integrity of the system. Inside Out Chapter 14 Browsing HKLMSAM and HKLMSECURITY As an administrator, you, like me, probably hate getting locked out of an area of the operating system, especially when you might be curious to know just what information is stored within these secret keys. If you want to browse the information in these subkeys, you can do this by running Regedit in the LocalSystem security context. As the LocalSystem, you have full access to these subkeys. However, you should only browse these subkeys. You should never try to make changes because this could cause serious damage to the computer. With that said, the easiest way to browse the Registry in the LocalSystem context is to start Regedit in interactive mode by using the scheduler service. Type the following: at HH:MM /interactive regedit where HH:MM is a time slightly ahead of the current time. The at scheduler uses a 24-hour clock, so if it is currently 8:29 A.M., you could use a time of 08:30, or if it is 8:29 P.M., you could use a time of 20:30. Either way, you give the system just enough time to schedule and then run the task. HKLMSECURITY HKLMSECURITY stores security information for the local machine. It contains information about cached logon credentials, policy settings, service-related security settings, and default security values. It also has a copy of the HKLMSAM. As with the HKLMSAM sub- key, this subkey is inaccessible through Registry Editor. This is a security feature designed to help protect the security and integrity of the system. HKLMSOFTWARE HKLMSOFTWARE stores machine-wide settings for every application and system component installed on the system. This includes setup information, executable paths, default configuration settings, and registration information. Because this subkey resides under HKLM, the information here is applied globally. This is different from the HKCU SOFTWARE configuration settings, which are applied on a per-user basis. 418 Part 4: Managing Windows Server 2003 Systems
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Managing the Registry HKLMHARDWARE HKLMHARDWARE stores information about the hardware configuration for the computer. This key is re-created by Ntdetect.com each time you start Windows Server 2003, and it exists only in memory, not on disk. To build this key, Ntdetect.com enumerates every device it can find by scanning the system buses and by searching for specific classes of devices, such as serial ports, keyboards, and pointer devices. Under HKLMHARDWARE, you ll find four standard subkeys that are dynamically created at startup and contain the information gathered by Ntdetect.com. These subkeys are as follows: . ACPI Contains information about the Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI), which is a part of system BIOS that supports Plug and Play and advanced power management. This subkey doesn t exist on non-ACPI-compliant computers. . DESCRIPTION Contains hardware descriptions including those for the system s central processor, floating-point processor, and multifunction adapters. For portable computers, one of the multifunction devices lists information about the docking state. For any computer with multipurpose chip sets, one of the multifunction devices lists information about the controllers for disks, keyboards, parallel ports, serial ports, and pointer devices. There s also a catchall category for other controllers, such as when a computer has a PC Card controller. . DEVICEMAP Contains information that maps devices to device drivers. You ll find device mappings for keyboards, pointer devices, parallel ports, Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) ports, serial ports, and video devices. Of particular note is that within the VIDEO subkey is a value entry for the Video Graphics Adapter (VGA) compatible video device installed on the computer. This device is used when the computer must start in VGA display mode. . RESOURCEMAP Contains mappings for the hardware abstraction layer (HAL), for the Plug and Play manager, and for available system resources. Of particular note is the Plug and Play manager. It uses this subkey to record information about devices it knows how to handle. Additional nonstandard subkeys can exist under HKLMHARDWARE. The subkeys are specific to the hardware used by the computer. HKLMSAM HKLMSAM stores the Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database. When you create local users and groups on member servers and workstations, the accounts are stored in HKLM SAM as they were in Windows NT. This key is also used to store information about built-in user and group accounts, as well as group membership and aliases for accounts. Chapter 14 417 Part 4: Managing Windows Server 2003 Systems
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Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Inside Out Chapter 14 To support both 32-bit and 64-bit interoperability through the Component Object Model (COM) and the use of 32-bit programs, the WOW64 redirector mirrors COM- related Registry keys and values between the 64-bit and 32-bit Registry views. In some cases, the keys and values are modified during the reflection process to adjust pathnames and other values that might be version-dependent. This, in turn, means that the 32-bit and 64-bit values might differ. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, abbreviated as HKLM, contains all the settings that pertain to the hardware currently installed on a system. It includes settings for memory, device drivers, installed hardware, and startup. Applications are supposed to store settings in HKLM only if the related data pertains to everyone who uses the computer. As Figure 14-2 shows, HKLM contains the following major subkeys: . HARDWARE . SAM . SECURITY . SOFTWARE . SYSTEM These subkeys are discussed in the sections that follow. Figure 14-2. Accessing HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE in the Registry. 416 Part 4: Managing Windows Server 2003 Systems
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Managing the Registry Table 14-1. Registry Subtrees Subtree Description Physical Subtree HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM) Stores all the settings that pertain to the hardware currently installed on the machine. HKEY_USERS (HKU) Stores user profile data for each user who has previously logged on to the computer locally as well as a default user profile. Logical Subtree HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (HKCR) Stores all file associations and object linking and embedding (OLE) class identifiers. This subtree is built from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARE Classes and HKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWARE Classes. HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG (HKCC) Stores information about the hardware configuration with which you started the system. This subtree is built from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SYSTEMCurrentControlSetHardware ProfilesCurrent, which in turn is a pointer to a numbered subkey that has the current hardware profile. HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU) Stores information about the user currently logged on. This key has a pointer to HKEY_USERUser- SID, where UserSID is the security identifier for the current user as well as for the default profile discussed previously. Chapter 14 Inside Out The Registry on 64-bit Windows systems The Registry on 64-bit Windows systems is divided into 32-bit and 64-bit keys. Many keys are created in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, and although the keys belong to different branches of the Registry, they have the same name. On these systems, Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) is designed to work with both 32-bit and 64-bit keys. The 32-bit keys, however, are represented with the WOW64 Registry redirector and appear under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWOW6432Node key. If you want to work directly with the 32-bit keys, you can do so by using the 32- bit Registry editor located in the file path %SystemRoot%Syswow64Regedit. Part 4: Managing Windows Server 2003 Systems
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Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Inside Out Chapter 14 At the top of the Registry hierarchy are the root keys. Each root key contains several subkeys, which contain other subkeys and value entries. The names of value entries must be unique within the associated subkey, and the value entries correspond to specific configuration parameters. The settings of those configuration parameters are the values stored in the value entry. Each value has an associated data type that controls the type of data it can store. For example, some value entries are used to store only binary data, while others are used to store only strings of characters, and the value s data type controls this. We can now break down the Registry path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARE MicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinlogonAllowMultipleTSSessions so that it is more meaningful. Here, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE is the root key. Each entry below the root key until we get to AllowMultipleTSSessions represents a subkey level within the Registry hierarchy. Finally, AllowMultipleTSSessions is the actual value entry. The Registry is very complex and it is often made more confusing because documentation on the subject uses a variety of different terms beyond those already discussed. When reading about the Registry in various sources, you might see references to the following: . Subtrees A subtree is a name for the tree of keys and values stemming from a root key down the Registry hierarchy. In documentation, you often see root keys referred to as subtrees. What the documentation means when it refers to a subtree is the branch of keys and values contained within a specified root key. . Keys Technically, root keys are the top of the Registry hierarchy, and everything below a root key is either a subkey or a value entry. In practice, subkeys are often referred to as keys. It s just easier to refer to such and such a key sort of like when we refer to such and such a folder rather than saying subfolder. . Values A value is the lowest level of the Registry hierarchy. For ease of reference, value entries are often simply referred to as values. Technically, however, a value entry comprises three parts: a name, a data type, and a value. The name identifies the configuration setting. The data type identifies the format for the data. The value is the actual data within the entry. Now that you know the basics of the Registry s structure, let s dig deeper, taking a closer look at the root keys, major subkeys, and data types. Registry Root Keys The Registry is organized into a hierarchy of keys, subkeys, and value entries. The root keys are at the top of the hierarchy and form the primary branches, or subtrees, of Registry information. There are two physical root keys, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_USER. These physical root keys are associated with actual files stored on the disk and are divided into additional logical groupings of Registry information. As shown in Table 14-1, the logical groupings are simply subsets of information gathered from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_USER. 414 Part 4: Managing Windows Server 2003 Systems
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