Unleashing Windows: Understanding the Windows 95 Registry (Part III)

In the last two columns, we talked about the Windows 95 Registry covering the basic overview of what it does. We also looked at the different keys, subkeys, and values in the Registry. This time we'll actually take a look at how Windows 95 interacts with the Registry.

However, once again, before we begin:

***** CAUTION ******
The Windows 95 Registry is critical to the proper operation of Window 95. In this article, we are just going to look at the Registry structure. However, we are going to look at it using a program called the Registry Editor, which allows modification of the Registry. Do NOT modify any entries in the Registry unless you are SURE of the proper syntax of the entry and what the implications of the entry are. If you incorrectly modify the Windows 95 Registry, Windows 95 will not operate properly or even worse, the Windows 95 system may not start.
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Now, let's take a look at an example of how the settings in the Registry interact with the Windows 95 system. We'll look at the Run dialog box, found by clicking the Start button, then Run item. The Run command keeps track of files that you've run previously and can display them in a drop-down list in the Run dialog box. The previous commands, as well as the order in which to list them, are kept in the Windows 95 Registry.

To view the interaction between the Registry and Windows 95, do the following:

1.) Before you start, be sure that you've run several commands using the Run dialog box. If you haven't, choose Start, Run and type FREECELL.EXE in the Run dialog. Close the Freecell game and open the Run dialog box again. Run another program, such as WINMINE.EXE, and close that program.

2.) Start the Registry Editor program by choosing Start, then Run and typing REGEDIT.EXE in the Run box. This starts the Windows 95 Registry Editor.

3.) The properties for the Run drop-down list are different for each user, so the information we're looking for is in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER key. Find the HKEY_CURRENT_USER key window in the Registry Editor to display the tree for that key.

4.) In the HKEY_CURRENT_USER window, expand the SOFTWARE subkey. You can expand the subtree for an item by double-clicking on that item.

5.) In the Software subkey, find and expand the Microsoft subkey. Most of the Windows 95 items that are configured for each user are located in this subkey.

6.) After expanding the Microsoft subkey, find and expand the Windows subkey. Then, expand the CurrentVersion subkey.

7.) The Run dialog box is part of the Windows 95 Explorer desktop, so we'll find the information in the Explorer subkey. Expand the Explorer subkey.

8.) The settings for the Run dialog box are located in a subkey called RunMRU. So, the entire path to view the settings of the Run dialog box is located in:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU.

9.) On the right side of the Registry editor, you should see the settings for the Run dialog box. Depending on what items were run from the dialog box, you should see a value called "a" with an entry of "WINMINE.EXE/1" or something similar, a value "b" with an entry of "FREECELL.EXE/1" or something similar, etc. Each of these letter values represent an item to be displayed on the drop-down list in the Run dialog box.

10.) Below all of the letter values, you should see a value called "MRUList." This value controls the order in which the items are to be displayed on the drop-down list. When an item is selected from the list, it moves to the top of the list. This is designed to make it easier for the user to select the last command that was run using the Run dialog box. The "MRUList" value should display something like "cba" depending on what order the commands were run. The letters correspond to the programs that the a, b, and c values have been assigned.

11.) Close the Windows 95 Registry Editor. If you want, run some more programs from the Run dialog box, then view the Registry entries again to see how they have changed. For now, just view the entries, don't try to modify them.

As you can see from this example, many of the functions of Windows 95 are handled through interaction with the Registry. The Registry saves a wide variety of data, such as system and device drivers, program settings, and user settings. This concludes this series on the Windows 95 Registry. Hopefully, you've learned a little bit more about how Windows 95 works.

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