window registry

dear sir,
why are the five classes of window registry. what's the significant of each class. if i want to recover registration no. my software which i have lost, then which class of registry will do the job for me. my o/s is-

winXP pro 2003 (build 2600)

 

There may be a problem in just backing up the registry to retain an install key. Most software now will encrypt this data. The encryption my have other calculating factures (date, time, SID). So in the event that you back up the registry the program may lock, or require you to enter the product code again.

The registry is a very powerful collection of settings, if you alter the wrong setting the program may fail to work. Or Windows may fail to boot, so I would tread lightly in the registry domain.

I know from personal experience that even the most experienced Windows users will avoid altering the registry too much.

 

Windows registry

Another very useful reference is 'Microsoft Windows XP the Registry' which covers the registry in detail and what you can do with it. This is a Focus guide from Future Publishing Ltd, 30 MonmouthSt., Bath BA1 2BW. I should point out that I have no connection with this company!!

 

dear PeteC,
this page dos'nt have anything regarding reg. no. of a software.

 

dear peteC,
i found it very useful. thanks for the help.

but one of my friends claimed that all licence registries lie at HOT KEY LOCAL
MACHINE class of registeries and searching through these registeries one can get licence nos. and just wanna how to search to get these nos.

 

dear Tony T
Thanks for kind information.

 

I wonder about this. Seems to me that the problem with the registry entries being encrypted would be that you wouldn't be able to view the product key in Regedit and then copy it down on a piece of paper, or into a text file, whatever. But, I'd think that if you could locate the correct key in regedit and back it up, the reg file should contain the same encrypted data as the original key had in it. Then, running the reg file should restore that encrypted data.

The trick would be finding the correct key to back up.

 

dear Zander,
so yo are claiming that by this way we can decrypt any encrypted data regading registration key.

 

I'm with Pete C on this
Why not use a tool to help you out
You can also try an alternative to Belarc Advisor

SIW 1.62
Download link at the top of the page
Nothing to install
Once saved, open it and try clicking on SECRETS
May supply you with the info

 

dear peteC,
i am sorry that i hurt your sentiments. belarc advisor really a wonderfull tool to get whatever you want about your PC. here i am trying only to become more knowllegible about window registry.

 

No. Somebody may be able to decrypt them but I don't think it would be any of us mere mortals.

I was only saying that if you found the proper entry in the registry that I thought you should be able to back it up to a reg file and then use that regfile to enter the info back into the registry if you needed too. I'm not really sure about this but I can't see why it wouldn't work. I was kind of wondering what Pete thought about this.

The only way I know of that you might be able to find and decrypt them would be to use a program like Pete mentioned. It's tough to say where they keep them in the registry. There's no one standard place. You'd have to search the registry for something like ProductKey or ProductID or some such thing. They don't all use the same name for the value you're looking for either. One might use ProductKey (windows) the next might name it something else.