Description of the Information in the Subkeys Under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Branch of the Registry

This article provides a description of the information that exists in the subkeys under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE branch in the registry of a Windows 98/95-based computer.

The HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE branch in the registry defines all of the following specific information for your local computer:

• Drivers.
• Installed hardware.
• Port settings.
• Software configuration.

The following list includes the subkey names and a description of them:

Config

A subkey of Config is mapped to HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG as the current configuration, or a collection of hardware configuration profiles for the local computer. These profiles are located on the Hardware Profiles tab in the System tool in Control Panel.

Driver

This subkey contains empty subkeys with names like 6 and 11. This subkey appears to be a placeholder.

Enum

Contains information about hardware devices connected to the computer.

Hardware

Contains information about serial ports and modems used with communication programs.

Network

Network information created when a user logs on to a networked computer. This includes the user name, primary network provider, whether the logon was validated by a server, and information about the system policies processor.

Security

Contains information about the network security access, provider, and remote administration capabilities.

Software

The computer-specific information about software installed on the local computer, along with miscellaneous configuration data.

System

The database that controls system startup, device driver loading, Windows services, and operating system behavior.

For additional related information, see the following Microsoft Press books:

"Inside the Registry for Microsoft Windows 95," ISBN 1-57231-424-9

"Inside the Microsoft Windows 98 Registry," ISBN 1-57231-824-4

You can also view the following Microsoft Press Web site: