Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual

The Registry

Here and there, in books, articles, and conversations, you’ll hear hushed references to something called the Windows Registry—usually accompanied by either knowing or bewildered glances.

Microsoft would just as soon you not even know about the Registry. There’s not a word about it in the basic user guides, and the only information you’ll find about it in the Help and Support Center says, “It is strongly recommended that you do not edit Registry settings yourself. Incorrectly editing the Registry may severely damage your system.”

POWER USERS’ CLINIC The Recovery Console

Between System Restore and Safe Mode, everyday Windows users are well equipped to recover from most typical Windows snafus. But there are times—extremely rare ones, thank goodness—when the files of Windows itself are so corrupted that you can’t even access these tools.

In those situations, technically proficient PC fans can take advantage of something called the Recovery Console. As in DOS or Unix, this window displays nothing but text—no icons, menus, or other graphic niceties—but if you know the correct commands to type, Recovery Console can help get you out of some very tight scrapes. It lets you manipulate files and folders, turn off a specific driver or background service, perform certain hard drive repairs, and even erase (reformat) drives.

To prevent unscrupulous techies from exploiting this emergency tool, Recovery Console offers access only to the system files and folders of Windows itself—application ...