Under the Windows Desktop Chapter 7 Under the Windows Desktop McGraw-Hill

Learning Outcomes Define the role of the registry in Windows, and back up and modify the registry when needed Describe the Windows startup process Install and manage device drivers Troubleshoot common Windows problems

Understanding the Registry The Registry Defined Database of configuration settings for Device drivers Services Installed application programs Operating system components User Preferences Start out the lecture with Windows Explorer open and be prepared to locate the registry files as you discuss them. Then, a Try This activity involves running Registry Editor in order to view the registry structure. he objective of this section is to give the students an understanding of the function of the registry, its pieces and parts, and the location of registry hive files. e don’t encourage them to actually modify the registry, but to understand that many things they do day-to-day modify the registry. Step-by-Step 7.01 guides them through using System Restore to create a restore point, an indirect way to back up the entire registry and more. This section concludes with a brief description of how to backup just a portion of the registry using Registry Editor.

Understanding the Registry Automatic Registry Changes when: Windows starts up or shuts down Windows Setup runs Changes are mode through a Control Panel applet A new device is installed Any changes are made to the Windows configuration Any changes are made to a user’s preferences An application is installed or modified Changes are made to application user preferences

Understanding the Registry (cont.) Registry Files (hives) DEFAULT NTUSER.DAT SAM SECURITY SOFTWARE SYSTEM

Understanding the Registry (cont.) Registry file locations C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG All but NTUSER.DAT

Figure 7-1 This view of the CONFIG folder shows registry files

Understanding the Registry (cont.) Registry File Descriptions SYSTEM What to load at startup Order of loading at startup Settings for drivers, services, OS components SOFTWARE Settings for installed software Other configuration information SECURITY Security policies

Understanding the Registry (cont.) Registry File Descriptions SAM Security Accounts Manager Local security accounts database DEFAULT User profile settings Used when no user is logged on Logon screen

Understanding the Registry (cont.) Registry File Descriptions NTUSER.DATA User profile for a single user Application preferences, screen colors, and more After a user logs on, that user’s NTUSER.DAT is loaded Saved in top-level personal folder for the user Hidden file

Table 7-1 Locations of the Hives within the Registry

Understanding the Registry (cont.) Viewing and Editing the Registry View and edit the registry with REGEDIT.EXE Navigation similar to Windows Explorer Key: a folder containing settings and other keys Root keys: five keys at the top of the hierarchy Value entry: settings within a key Data type: format of a value entry Open REGEDIT during this part of the lecture, and instruct the students to follow the instructions in the Try This on page 245 to open this program and view the registry structure. Then demonstrate the hierarchical structure of the registry and point out the key points. This section has several key terms. Be sure to use the text and the REGEDIT program to differentiate among these registry components.

Figure 7-3 The registry root keys

Figure 7-4 Registry components

Table 7-2 Contents of Registry Root Keys

Table 7-3 Windows Registry Data Types (The Short List)

Understanding the Registry (cont.) Backing up the Registry Create a Restore Point Backs up the registry and the entire OS Use REDEGIT to back up all or a portion Use Export Registry File option Double-click on the .REG file to restore

The Windows Startup Process Phases of the Startup Process Power-on Self-test Initial Startup Boot Loader Windows XP Boot Loader Phase NTLDR reads BOOT.INI Windows Vista and Windows 7 Boot Loader Phase BOOTMGR (boot loader) reads BCD WINLOAD.EXE is OS loader Detect and Configure Hardware Explain that at every startup the Windows OS is "rebuilt" from the ground up through six phases. Then continue with the description of these phases. Also, point out that Beginning with Windows Vista, the Windows files involved in the Windows startup changed, and that the text describes the differences.

The Windows Startup Process Phases of the Startup Process (cont.) Kernel Loading NTOSKRNL.EXE loads into memory Hardware abstraction layer (HAL) loads System portion of the registry loads Drivers required at startup load Kernel initializes services and drivers and loads other code Kernel switches Windows to GUI mode CSRSS.EXE user-mode code starts PAGEFILE.SYS created and WINLOGON.EXE started Point out that the Windows Vista/Windows 7 BOOTMGR and WINLOAD.EXE files together replace the functions of the old NTLDR file. These newer versions of Windows do not need NTLDR, BOOT.INI, and NTDETECT.COM, but BOOT.INI and NTDETECT.COM will be present on a computer that multi-boots between an old OS and Windows Vista or newer.

The Windows Startup Process Phases of the Startup Process (cont.) Logon User Logon Program Startup Plug and Play Detection Emphasize that much happens during the logon phase in addition to logon

The Windows Startup Process Modifying System Startup Modifying System Startup for Windows XP BOOT.INI must be modified directly or indirectly System Properties | Advanced | Startup and Recovery

Figure 7-6 The Advanced System Settings in Windows XP

The Windows Startup Process BOOT.INI for a Dual-boot System [boot loader] timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS=”Windows XP Professional”/fastdetect multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT=”Windows 2000

The Windows Startup Process Simple BOOT.INI [boot loader] timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS=”Windows XP Professional”/fastdetect This example is not in the book.

The Windows Startup Process Modifying System Startup for Windows Vista and Windows 7 Boot configuration database (BCD) is a hidden part of the registry C:\BOOT\BCD Contains Locale information Location of the boot disk Location of the Windows files Other startup information

The Windows Startup Process Modifying System Startup for Windows Vista and Windows 7 Directly edit BDC using BCDEDIT Modify in Startup and Recovery dialog